❓ Ms Davies questions the Premier about systemic failures in the public service following Auditor General reports and revelations. The Premier defends machinery-of-government changes, highlighting department consolidation and efficiency gains.
AnsweredQoN 64Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MACHINERY-OF-GOVERNMENT
CHANGES
64. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question.
How confident is the Premier that
these failures are not systemic throughout the public service? They are serious
matters that have been raised by the Auditor General and revelations by one of
his own directors general.
CHANGES
64. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question.
How confident is the Premier that
these failures are not systemic throughout the public service? They are serious
matters that have been raised by the Auditor General and revelations by one of
his own directors general.
AnswerView source ↗
I indicated to the former member
that notice should be provided if she wants specific details about a specific
report, but I understand that the Department of Local Government, Sport and
Cultural Industries is looking to implement the recommendations of the Auditor
General's inquiry to put in place any changes that might be needed out
of that. The machinery-of-government changes
have now been in place for four years. From the tone of the Leader of the
Opposition's questioning, we should just have more government
departments—more and more and more. Maybe
we should have 100 government departments! That might solve the problem,
according to the Leader of the Opposition.
Every time you have an issue, you create a government department. How many
government d epartments do you want?
Ms M.J. Davies : We are just
saying your model does not work, Premier. Your model is failing.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : What new members will
learn is that whenever we pose a question to them, they never have an
answer. We have 25 government departments, which is a 40 per cent reduction. I think
we will find that most people across the state would say that it is better to
have larger and more robust organisations that bring together synergies between
important areas of government. Most people would think that is a reasonable
thing to do. That is what our reforms have done. As I said, Jeff Kennett
condensed the entire Victorian government into eight departments. We have
condensed the number of Western Australian government departments—our
state has a third of the population of
Victoria—from 41 down to 25. Obviously, under the arrangement that was
there before —there had been no reform for decades—it was
too many. I think the synergies between the agencies are plain for all to see and the way that they are structured is
obviously a sensible way forward. Perhaps we could have gone further with some departments. We elected not to because we thought that in the biggest
reorganisation in government, perhaps in history, it was probably wise to stop
at about 25. It is plain from what the Leader of the Opposition has to say that
she thinks that there should be an unlimited number of government departments,
and all that does is breed small agencies without great capability, more people
in administration and fewer people in delivery.
that notice should be provided if she wants specific details about a specific
report, but I understand that the Department of Local Government, Sport and
Cultural Industries is looking to implement the recommendations of the Auditor
General's inquiry to put in place any changes that might be needed out
of that. The machinery-of-government changes
have now been in place for four years. From the tone of the Leader of the
Opposition's questioning, we should just have more government
departments—more and more and more. Maybe
we should have 100 government departments! That might solve the problem,
according to the Leader of the Opposition.
Every time you have an issue, you create a government department. How many
government d epartments do you want?
Ms M.J. Davies : We are just
saying your model does not work, Premier. Your model is failing.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : What new members will
learn is that whenever we pose a question to them, they never have an
answer. We have 25 government departments, which is a 40 per cent reduction. I think
we will find that most people across the state would say that it is better to
have larger and more robust organisations that bring together synergies between
important areas of government. Most people would think that is a reasonable
thing to do. That is what our reforms have done. As I said, Jeff Kennett
condensed the entire Victorian government into eight departments. We have
condensed the number of Western Australian government departments—our
state has a third of the population of
Victoria—from 41 down to 25. Obviously, under the arrangement that was
there before —there had been no reform for decades—it was
too many. I think the synergies between the agencies are plain for all to see and the way that they are structured is
obviously a sensible way forward. Perhaps we could have gone further with some departments. We elected not to because we thought that in the biggest
reorganisation in government, perhaps in history, it was probably wise to stop
at about 25. It is plain from what the Leader of the Opposition has to say that
she thinks that there should be an unlimited number of government departments,
and all that does is breed small agencies without great capability, more people
in administration and fewer people in delivery.
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