Page 1282 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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Today, the ACT economy is not as reliant as it once was on the APS. It is still critical, but we have successfully developed new sectors and new opportunities. But the APS has been essential in developing these sectors. The growth we have seen in our education sector has been significant, with both the ANU and UC demonstrating they are world leaders in their respective fields. But without the networks, ties and expertise that come with being the nation’s capital and being connected to the APS, it is hard to imagine our city experiencing such phenomenal growth in education.
Similarly now, new sectors come up and grow. Cybersecurity is one example. I recently attended a tour of the Verizon security operations centre based here in Canberra. The work they are doing there is truly cutting edge and will play an essential role in protecting Australia from cyber attacks. Again, this is another example of how strong ties between the APS and private companies in the ACT have supported our economy.
But what concerns me is that some people do not see it this way. Some people do not think that Canberra is an appropriate place for our federal public servants. They do not see the benefits of having Australia’s top public servants, our best public policy minds, in one place, a place where they can collaborate more easily, work through ideas and solve the problems facing our nation. No. For them, the APS is merely a political tool, one to be used at their whim for their own political ends.
We have seen this most recently with the disgraceful decision from the commonwealth government and Barnaby Joyce to relocate the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to Armidale in Mr Joyce’s electorate. This is one of the most egregious examples of pork-barrelling from a federal minister in living memory. The Liberals have pushed through this decision with no legitimate reason. Not only did they refuse to seek parliamentary approval, they have made it so that that order cannot be disallowed by parliament. They know that this decision does not make sense, and they know they would not be able to convince the crossbenches of its legitimacy.
This decision will obviously be detrimental to Canberra. The department has almost 200 staff, only 15 per cent of whom are expected to relocate. The remaining staff have essentially been told to move or lose their jobs. This decision will obviously have a serious negative impact on these families and our community more generally.
But I do not want to talk just about the impact on Canberra. It is also worth considering the impact this will have on the industries the APVMA provides advice to, primarily agriculture. Fortunately, the federal Liberals have done the hard work for us on this one. Prior to the announcement, the government paid Ernst & Young $272,000 to undertake a cost-benefit analysis on the decision to relocate the APVMA. $272,000 is a hefty sum of money, colleagues, an amount for which you would expect detailed, well-considered advice. We are definitely not looking at back-of-the-envelope calculations here. This analysis found that there were no material economic advantages to support the relocation; none at all.
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