Page 1694 - Week 08 - Thursday, 28 September 1989
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departments, the order of efficiencies to be achieved by this budget is greater than in any other area under this budget.
That is not because I do not think public servants do anything. Quite the contrary. I believe that they work extremely hard, are extremely productive, and without them we would not have the kind of work that we enjoy in this Assembly. We would not have the ongoing business of government. To imply, as Mr Kaine does, that they do not produce anything, I believe is quite wrong.
Mr Kaine: I did not say that, Chief Minister.
MS FOLLETT: Well, Mr Kaine, that was clearly the inference.
Mr Humphries: "They do not deliver services" is what he said.
MS FOLLETT: He said they did not deliver services, but I think that they do. There is no doubt in my mind that the officers in the Housing Trust, the officers in the Health Commission, the officers in the Schools Authority, the officers in the Government Law Offices deliver very real services to the community in which they are working and they do so to a high standard.
Mr Speaker, we also heard from Mr Collaery and from Mr Collaery's party that they do not want any of the cuts that the Government was forced to make. At the same time, they have not put up any proposal as to where we might find the money to enjoy that luxury. I am afraid that I am forced into a position of believing that they do not really understand the constraints that we are faced with in this budget at all. We also heard from Mr Collaery's party an emphasis, and one which I share greatly, on the women's budget, on social justice and on programs for women. By stark contrast to that, we heard from Mr Stefaniak and Mrs Nolan some very harsh comments about the women's employment program and the women's business enterprise in particular. So I doubt that we would ever find a middle course of ground between those two sectors of those two parties. Nevertheless, Mr Speaker, I think that the debate has been useful in canvassing quite a broad range of issues contained within this budget. As I said, I thank members for their contribution.
I am proud of the budget, because I think it is one that is built on sound and responsible economic, social and financial principles. It is not a budget that is in any way reckless. It contains no shocks for the ACT community. I think that, as the first budget under self-government, it is essential that that budget allays some of the fears that were held in the community prior to self-government. Those fears, of course, were that the introduction of self-government would be a recipe for lunatic and reckless overspending and for high taxation. We have allayed those fears.
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