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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-28 Daily Xml
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PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:22): I have a supplementary question arising out of the non-answer.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Lucas has a supplementary question arising out of the reasonable answer.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Given the minister's refusal to answer my second question, does he now argue that the Australian Labor Party, which was founded in the 1890s, is no longer there to protect the conditions of Australian workers and to give them a fair go?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (15:23): I thought I did answer it. Yes, we are doing it. As I said, the alternative is actually the numbers.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The Hon. Mr Brokenshire interjects, but I remind him that when he was police minister we had about 3,500 police. We now have nearly a thousand more police than that. What is the best alternative? We can have a greater number, we can have a smaller number of people who have better conditions, or we can have through the Public Service more people providing the services but still being remunerated at conditions that are favourable compared to those in the rest of the country.

This government has made its decision and, as I said, it will be ultimately judged by the parliament. The choice is to make further cuts to public services or to make this particular cut in relation to these two measures.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: WorkChoices Holloway, they are calling you.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The honourable member can call me whatever he likes, but I will sleep easy. I am quite happy to justify the budget of this government which, in very difficult circumstances, is seeking to retain the economic credibility of the government, which it needs to do through its rating, but at the same time also to realign the budget. We can just pretend away all the issues facing us. We can pretend that health and all these other issues are not growing. The Hon. Mr Lucas can live in the past back under his budget in 2002, when we spent probably half of what we now spend on health.

It would be interesting to look at those figures. Even then, when the Hon. Mr Lucas was Treasurer, we know the struggles he had to meet the health budget at the time, and that is happening all around the country. We do need to realign the budget. We do need to make difficult choices and this government is prepared to make them but, in making them, they will be fair and in accordance with the principles for which this party stands. However, as I said, public sector conditions, in particular long service leave and the leave loading, are prescribed within the Public Sector Act, and the only way they can be changed is by changing that act.

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