Question Without Notice No. 40 asked in the Legislative Council on 17 May 2017 by Hon Phil Edman
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
PUBLIC SECTOR REDUCTION — TRADE OFFICES
40. Hon PHIL EDMAN to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade:
My questions relate to the comments made by the Premier and Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade, Mark McGowan, in a press conference on Friday, 28 April, in which he announced that the number of government departments would be reduced by 40 per cent. With the reduction in the number of departments, it seems that the Department of State Development will now form part of the new Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, which would include the overseas offices in London, Dubai and Japan.
(1) Can the Premier guarantee that his government's proposed reduction in the number of government departments will not hinder the efforts of these offices to respond to opportunities in a timely manner, unlike the bureaucratically hamstrung Department of State Development offices?
(2) Will this new proposal adopt the same method of operation that the Department of the Premier and Cabinet offices had?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) All Western Australian public sector functions are under review, including the trade offices located overseas.