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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-14 Daily Xml
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TARGETED VOLUNTARY SEPARATION PACKAGES

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (14:19): My question is to the Treasurer.

An honourable member: Good luck!

Mr GRIFFITHS: Thank you. What is the estimated cost to government of targeted voluntary separation packages offered to Public Service employees this week? The Executive Director of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet invited employees of the department to apply for targeted voluntary separation packages this week. He referred employees to guidelines issued by the Department of Treasury and Finance which offer employees 2¼ years' salary.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:20): The government—they are a little bit slow on the uptake, the opposition—announced the fact that we are offering up to 1,600 voluntary separation packages in the Mid-Year Budget Review. What we have done is made a provision in the Mid-Year Budget Review for that.

Mrs Redmond: How much?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: My understanding—and I will get this checked—is that, prudently, we would have made full provision for the 1,600. I do not have the dollar figure for that. The final figure will be dependent upon how many of those 1,600 are taken up. And they are not all in this financial year; they are over a staggered period. We would estimate the year in which we assume these numbers would be taken up, I presume for the full uptake, but whether or not that occurs is a different story. Always remember that voluntary separation packages have a very quick payback period—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: That's why we do them.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: That's why we do them. I do not have the exact payback period in months; it is about 18 months. You can lock in that ongoing saving for a considerable amount of time. It is a mechanism that has been used consistently by former Liberal governments, and it has been used consistently, when appropriate, by this government when we have needed to relieve certain cost pressures on the budget—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop!

Mr Williams: You particularly amuse me.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Why I am I amusing you?

Mr Williams: You don't even sound like you believe it yourself. I find that amusing.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What? Are you saying that I'm not telling the truth?

Mr Williams: Get on with it!

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: We have offered voluntary separation packages a number of times since coming to government, and they have been a necessary and very useful management tool to right-size the workforce and to provide savings and efficiencies within the government. I do not know how more open and upfront the member for MacKillop expects me to be, but that is the story.

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