PUBLIC SECTOR —
FTE STAFF
769. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Minister for Public Sector Management:
I
have a supplementary question. Will the minister admit that the $300 million
for the VTSS program was a complete and utter waste of taxpayer money
given that the sector has grown —
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER: Treasurer!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY: —
by seven per cent, or 8 000 FTE —
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected
The SPEAKER: Treasurer!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY: —
and that the government did not achieve a reduction of 3 000 FTE as promised?
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
The SPEAKER: Minister for
Police!
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
Had
we not had the VTSS scheme, that number of employees—I think we
successfully achieved around 3 000 under that scheme—would still
be there, so there would be an additional 3 000 people inside the public
sector. I explained to the Leader of the Opposition what has occurred but she
did not listen to the answer. What has happened is that a range of people have
been converted to more secure employment if they have met the conditions. The
conditions were ongoing funding of their
position, they had to have been employed in the public sector for a minimum of two years, and they had to meet certain merit
criteria, such as being a good employee and the like. They had to meet a
range of conditions and thousands of people have been converted to permanency
who otherwise would have had their employment renewed on an annual basis. That
has given people more security of employment, something that I would have
thought the Leader of the Opposition would endorse. I would have thought that
of all the people in this Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition would
endorse that.
I note that the Leader of the
Opposition's question was about the budget. I also note that the shadow
Treasurer is not here to ask a budget question of the Treasurer.
Point of Order
Mr Z.R.F.
KIRKUP: Mr Speaker, I note that the Premier —
The SPEAKER: What is your
point of order?
Mr
Z.R.F. KIRKUP: The Premer is
obviously not responding to the question asked by the Leader of the Opposition.
I ask that you direct him to answer the question that was asked.
The SPEAKER: What was he not
answering? I thought he was doing a pretty good job. I think you just got a bit
excited there. There is no point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr M. McGOWAN: I just want to
note, and I think it is important for the historical record —
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
The SPEAKER: Leader of the
Opposition!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members, please!
Mr M. McGOWAN: The shadow
Treasurer is not here. The budget came down on Thursday.
Point of Order
Mr
Z.R.F. KIRKUP: Mr Speaker, the
Premier is about to make a reflection on where the member for Bateman is.
In the past, you have ruled that members cannot make a reflection on when
members are in or out of the chamber.
Mr M. McGowan: You can't
read my mind.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP: I look
forward to it!
The
SPEAKER: Premier, I will make a decision
on that. Yes, we do not generally say if people are not in the chamber,
so I am sure you will find another way to put that. That was a point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr M. McGOWAN: Mr Speaker, I am
just making the point that in the first sitting after the budget, I have never seen a situation in which the shadow Treasurer is
not here to ask the Treasurer a question. I also note that today there
was a budget briefing, and neither the Leader of the Opposition nor the shadow
Treasurer came.