Page 21 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 May 1989

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MINISTERIAL ARRANGEMENTS

Ministerial Statement and Paper

MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister): I have pleasure in tabling for the information of members of the Assembly details of the allocation of portfolio responsibilities and the administrative arrangements order published in the Territory Gazette dated 18 May 1989.

The portfolio arrangements are myself as Chief Minister, Treasurer and Attorney-General; Mr Paul Whalan as Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Industry, Employment and Education; Mr Wayne Berry as Minister for Community Services and Health; and Mrs Ellnor Grassby as Minister for Housing and Urban Services.

The allocation of portfolio responsibilities is designed to promote policy and operational coordination. We have grouped related functions and agencies to facilitate more innovative approaches to service delivery and minimise time and opportunities lost through excessive inter-agency coordination.

The workload of Ministers has been balanced carefully, having regard to the priorities of the Government and the budget, staff resources and the range of programs administered by each Minister. We have deliberately minimised the extent of changes in agency responsibilities and structures and thereby avoided the costs and disruption to services which inevitably accompany large-scale bureaucratic restructuring.

I will briefly outline the primary functions of each of the portfolio groupings. My own portfolio of Chief Minister, Treasurer and Attorney-General will provide a clear focus for priority setting of resource management by giving the Chief Minister responsibility for policy coordination, financial management and Public Service matters, and for the Government's law reform and legislative programs.

The allocation of social justice responsibility to my own portfolio emphasises the importance the Government attaches to the coordination of social policies and the development of a community based on principles of social justice and economic security.

As part of the direction-setting function of the Chief Minister's portfolio, the Territory Planning Authority will be used to balance the sometimes competing pressures of environment protection and development.

Mr Whalan's portfolio of Industry, Employment and Education will draw together the key policy areas of employment, education, training and development, including tourism, to provide a sound basis for securing the Territory's ongoing economic prosperity. The Government has made a very


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