Page 1231 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the ACT sustainable and, as such, can accelerate the process by being an example for other governments to follow. We see initiatives such as reducing the use of paper, waste production, water usage and greenhouse gas emissions as key elements in our aim of greening our government.
Rather than concentrate on examples of waste that with proper management can be eliminated, the ACT Greens have three key areas which will produce long-term savings. The first of these is the retrofitting of energy and water efficiency technologies into buildings owned by the ACT government and working with landlords to retrofit these technologies in buildings leased by the ACT government.
The second involves purchasing 100 per cent of ACT government electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar generation. Along with these initiatives, there is a need to develop strong, sustainable procurement guidelines covering all ACT government decisions. We have no doubt that, if you look hard enough in any organisation, you will find areas where improvements could be made in relation to expenditure.
Areas within the ACT government do need to come under proper scrutiny in this regard, and we urge the government to pay close attention to this. The Greens expect that those responsible for heading departments would, when preparing budgets, be mindful of curbing unnecessary expenditure. We also expect that in developing the upcoming budget the ACT government, particularly in these difficult economic times, would be considering ways of reducing expenditure to only essential items and eliminating items which fall into the category of “nice to have but not essential”.
In relation to some government bodies, we acknowledge that it appears public funds have not been used as appropriately as they should have been. Totalcare and Rhodium are good examples of this. In committee hearings and through questions on notice, we have asked those responsible for these government bodies for explanations on any expenditure which appeared to be excessive or inappropriate. We feel the committees and detailed questions on notice present the best opportunity to query what appears to be wasteful expenditure.
While it must be an active function of government to closely monitor expenditure within the public service, the ACT public service is quite streamlined in comparison to other state public service bodies in terms of numbers and is under constant threat of losing staff to the commonwealth. We know that, at this time, ACT public servants are under additional pressure to quickly deliver aspects of the Rudd government’s nation building and jobs plan. This is in addition to the elements of the second appropriation bill and the third appropriation bill, if passed.
In conclusion, the ACT Greens support the need to reduce any wasteful expenditure when identified. We would like to see the ACT government work towards the greening of government, as I outlined, by adopting greener measures to ensure a reduced ecological footprint and a better bottom line.
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (4.09): This afternoon the Treasurer outlined the government’s achievement in improving the efficiency of services and making record investments in health, education and other important services. Of course, listing all
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .