Page 2220 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 9 May 2012
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careful decisions. But what I can tell you is that job reductions of the size that the federal Liberal Party are threatening Canberra with, and constantly threaten Canberra with, would be disastrous for the people of the ACT.
MS PORTER: Supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Chief Minister, can you inform the Assembly on strategies that can be achieved immediately in response to the job cuts?
MS GALLAGHER: I think the issue of what is in the budget moves very quickly to how do you manage that and what are the next steps. I have put in place a number of immediate responses. Overnight I wrote to the Prime Minister, seeking an urgent meeting with her to understand how they are going to manage their savings measures across this financial year and also to seek some further advice about the savings that are being sought in terms of their wages bill over the forward estimates.
I have also asked that the Commissioner for Public Administration engage with the federal Public Service Commissioner to talk about setting up direct links between us as employers to look at any opportunities that we might have that may suit people who are deemed to be excess to requirements in the commonwealth public service.
I am not standing here and saying that we can employ every commonwealth public servant, but I think there is the onus on big employers in town—and the ACT government is not the only big employer in town; I think all corporate citizens should be looking—to see how they can maximise ensuring transition arrangements if people are seeking them. That is the second thing we can do.
The third thing we can do is that the Treasurer and I will host a subcommittee of cabinet to meet with a number of key industry and community representatives, to listen to them directly about the sort of responses they would like to see and roll that into our final decision making on the budget. This was a recommendation of the Hawke review in terms of being able to bring external expertise in and put them around the cabinet table, and I think this is exactly the right situation to do just that.
So there is a bit of work ahead of us, but cool heads and working together will ensure that we can provide economic stability.
MR HARGREAVES: A supplementary.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: Chief Minister, what will the ACT government do to cushion any negative impacts on the local economy?
MS GALLAGHER: The Treasurer last year decided to move the budget to June in terms of being able to incorporate elements of the commonwealth budget into our own budget, and that is an incredibly sensible decision. We now have a period of a couple
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