Page 4172 - Week 13 - Thursday, 27 November 2014
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outrage from Mr Rattenbury. Shock, horror! This is going to damage our democracy; it is the end of the Western world as we know it, as far as Mr Rattenbury is concerned. Let us be very clear here.
Mr Corbell: Stand up for Canberra.
MR HANSON: Mr Corbell injects. He does not like this evidence, does he? I remember Mr Corbell did not come in here either, Madam Deputy Speaker—
Mr Corbell: Why don’t you stand up for Canberra?
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Stop the clock. Mr Hanson, sit down. Mr Corbell, stop interjecting across the floor. I do not want Mr Hanson to shout any more than he is already shouting. If you could lower the tone a little bit it might be helpful, particularly to me in the chair. If we could continue now without any interjection across the chamber?
MR HANSON: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Mr Corbell says, “Stand up for Canberra; stand up for Canberra.” Where was Mr Corbell when all those efficiency dividends were being applied by Gillard and Rudd? Can you remember, members? Can you remember Mr Corbell coming in here as well—united with Mr Rattenbury in outrage at the thousands of public service jobs that were cut by Rudd and Gillard—and standing up for Canberra? I do not recall that.
I certainly condemn all the job cuts that are happening in Canberra, be it in health, education or across the board. I do not want to see any jobs move out of Canberra. But I will tell you what, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will be consistent. I do not want to see any cuts. I do not care if they are by federal Liberal or federal Labor. For Mr Rattenbury and Mr Corbell the only bad cuts are those made by Liberals. If there are Liberal efficiency dividends they are evil. If they are Labor efficiency dividends there is not a squeak, and particularly for Mr Rattenbury if there is potential media involved.
There is plenty of evidence about those efficiency dividends and indeed they have been applied at the ACT level as well. You can go to the budget papers for 2011-12 in the ACT budget and you can see table 1.51. You can see the extensive list of efficiency dividends applied in the ACT budget. All of those savings initiatives in the ACT budget took place in a cabinet that Mr Corbell was part of and were voted on by Mr Rattenbury. The savings initiatives were about reducing administrative inputs, improving efficiencies and limiting growth in staff numbers.
Mr Rattenbury was quite the champion of efficiency dividends when there was not a camera involved, when it kept him in his nice plum job. But here we have the rank hypocrisy of those opposite. They cheered on Gillard and Rudd when they made efficiency dividends that stripped thousands of public service jobs in Canberra. They imposed efficiency dividends themselves and said in this place, “Efficiency dividends can be achieved with back-of-house efficiencies.” They made all these arguments about efficiency dividends: this sort of rate can be applied to back-of-house; it does not require job cuts. But now we see what is going on with the ABC they come in
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