Senator Lundy said today that Senator Gary Humphries’ scare campaign on the Public Service is desperate, irresponsible and misleading.
The facts are that in Lindsay Tanner’s address to the National Press Club on Wednesday 8 August 2007, he said:
 |
the public sector and government spending has been growing faster than the economy; |
|
the growth is in inappropriate areas such as the SES, political staff and consultants; for example the number of senior public servants has soared by an astonishing 44 percent; |
|
the growth has not been in frontline service deliverers; |
|
he does not anticipate reducing the total size of the Public Service; |
Labor wants to improve the quality of services and service delivery.
The savings amounting to $209 million comprise:
|
cutting ministerial staff by 30% to return to 1996 levels, saving $101.5 million; |
|
slashing MPs’ printing allowances from $150,000 to $100,000, saving $23.4 million; |
|
scaling back the number of parliamentary liaison officers employed by government agencies to do the work of MP’s offices, saving $52.5 million; |
|
abolishing the Government Communications Unit, saving $19.6 million; and |
|
cutting back on media monitoring, saving $12 million. |
The overall impact on jobs in Canberra will be insignificant under a Labor Government as Labor will be just rearranging priorities, and it will bring Public Service growth back into line with the overall economy. Labor wants to improve the quality of services and service delivery.
Contact: Meg Martin 0422 409 614
