5/11/04
There will not be 100 public sector job losses in Kalgoorlie.
Minister assisting the Public Sector Management Minister John Kobelke said such claims made this week by Matt Birney were another classic beat-up by the Liberal member for Kalgoorlie and showed how irresponsible he was.
"Mr Birney has tried and failed to use the Gallop Government's plan to remove bureaucratic duplication and create more efficient departments and agencies, through shared services, to create unfounded fear of job losses in Kalgoorlie," Mr Kobelke said.
"Not only has he been misleading, he also does not seem to understand that these reforms will save taxpayers money, about $50million per year, which can be redirected to boost the number of police, nurses and teachers living in Kalgoorlie.
"Very few Government employees in Kalgoorlie will be affected by shared services reforms - some of the current functions they perform may be carried out elsewhere, but those public servants can continue to live and work in the Goldfields if they choose."
Of the two shared services centres considering changes in regional Western Australia, the Health Corporate Network has identified fewer than 15 positions that could be changed in the Goldfields.
The second centre, which covers Education and Training, will see significantly less change in Kalgoorlie than the Health Corporate Network.
No other Government agencies have been targeted for savings by reducing the number of Corporate Services staff based in the country.
The Minister said in eight years the Liberals had five budget deficits running down WA.
"Not only did the Liberals have to privatise State-owned assets to pay their bills, they did next to nothing about improving the public sector and finding ways of efficiently using more taxpayers' money on health, education and law and order," he said.
"In four years, the Gallop Government has delivered a balanced Budget every year, without any privatisation, which has meant extra nurses, police and teachers across the State, including the Goldfields.
"Matt Birney has not worked it out yet, but this Government is making a difference through good management and in the shared services reforms has given particular consideration to regional areas."
Mr Kobelke said most Corporate Services were already delivered to regional offices by Perth based public servants.
"There will be no forced redundancies and there will be no reduction in the provision of services to the community - in fact there should be a positive outcome, through a focus on core business as fewer local resources are directed to providing 'back office' services," the Minister said.
"Mr Birney's claim of 100 job losses is even more foolish, when you consider there are fewer than 90 full-time shared services positions in the Goldfields.
"Greater efficiencies will help us improve the frontline service delivery of Government departments and agencies in Kalgoorlie.
"Saving through shared services is not only good management, it is essential to better services for WA's taxpayers in the future," Mr Kobelke said.
The Minister said in the other whole-of-government reform, dealing with better buying practices for the public sector, there were plans to establish a centre for procurement excellence in Kalgoorlie.
"Setting up this centre in Kalgoorlie will meet the Gallop Government's regional development policy, which is all about shifting a significant amount of buying activity to the regions and building the public sector's capacity to buy smarter," he said.
Minister's office: 9222 9211
