Page 2115 - Week 06 - Thursday, 26 June 2008
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DR FOSKEY: I hope that there are not too many dogs working in the Chief Minister’s Department. It is of concern to me that this lack of sole attention on the public service may actually be detrimental to conditions and in terms of advocacy for public servants, in terms of complaints mechanisms and reporting and so on. If those complaints can only be reported through the existing systems and to someone who is a director of a department while also wearing a public service commissioner’s hat, I do not feel that public servants necessarily feel that their complaints will be dealt with in an objective fashion. I would like to see a review of the Public Service Commissioner’s role in order to see whether it still performs the functions that it was set up to do.
In terms of industrial relations policies, I am concerned that the ongoing review of the ACT’s private sector workers compensation scheme will see a further erosion of employee rights. (Second speaking period taken.) Of course Comcare, the commonwealth’s public sector scheme, was recently adjusted to exclude journey cover to and from work. While the Greens are committed to keeping that protection in the ACT private sector scheme, there will undoubtedly be external pressure to strip away many elements of the scheme. And journey cover will be one of them. I have not yet heard from the ACT government what it plans to do with the scheme after the election.
On coordinated communications and events: I am somewhat concerned with the growing trend to package up and promote the ACT government. That might be par for the course with all well-organised governments these days but there is something about the modesty with which ACT self-government began which I am sorry to lose. Where we do need to better resource and promote ourselves, in my view, is the Legislative Assembly which has, in a way, suffered the opprobrium of anti local self-government and anti politician prejudice. I believe we need more MLAs, more Legislative Assembly resources and so on. But what we have seen instead is city-wide government newsletters, budget brochures distributed before the budged is passed and a general increase in polish and shine and spin.
There are also an increasing number of events such as the family fun day in November that seem to be funded in order to justify a public holiday—in this case, a substitute for union picnic day which of course did have a meaning until it was abolished by the Howard government and which, in itself, has almost eliminated the cultural meaning that Melbourne Cup day has developed in workplaces around Australia. I am not certain yet whether we are going to have a holiday for Melbourne Cup day this year, but I strongly hope we do not. I made the comment last year that Melbourne Cup day is a day for people to sit down and have lunch together, have a sweep and basically talk to people that they are usually too busy to engage with, apart from work.
I think that there are too many cakes and circuses and that is where our money is going. It is true that Canberra’s people do flock to some events, especially outdoor events, but I believe that its government is really about providing programs and services and the cakes and circuses need to be for the benefit of the people rather than for the benefit of the government.
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