❓ Mr. Michael asks about the progress of the government office accommodation reform program. The Minister for Finance details savings achieved through the program, contrasting it with the previous government's approach and criticising the Leader of the Opposition's spending habits.
AnsweredQoN 644Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GOVERNMENT OFFICE ACCOMMODATION REFORM PROGRAM
644. Mr D.R. MICHAEL to the Minister for Finance:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment
to budget repair and restoring the state's finances. Can the minister
update the house on the government office accommodation reform program and what
practical benefits have been achieved so far?
644. Mr D.R. MICHAEL to the Minister for Finance:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment
to budget repair and restoring the state's finances. Can the minister
update the house on the government office accommodation reform program and what
practical benefits have been achieved so far?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Balcatta. Some people may find the
whole topic of government office accommodation a bit dull, but I assure the
member I do not. I find it very, very interesting. It has been somewhat of a success
by this government. When we came into government, I asked the Department of
Finance how much space the government actually has by way of direct ownership
or lease, and nobody could tell me. We did not know how much space government
as an institution had and was paying for. So we have done that work, and
combined with what has been the state's largest voluntary redundancy
scheme, and what has been an unprecedented reform program in reducing the
number of government departments, we have also been able to have a government
office accommodation reform program. At last year's budget, that was
expected to generate just under $150 million in savings over a five-year period
by the time it was fully implemented and to reduce our footprint by about 50 000
square metres. I am happy to say that our program is going well. We have
already reduced the size of the government footprint by about 10 000 square
metres, saving around $35 million already. We expect by 2021–22 that
will increase to $50 million.
That is another reason why, when we go about reforming
government, there are other opportunities to find savings to re-base the spend
of government, which we had to do because when we came into government, we
found record operating deficits, record debt, and a previous government that
had no interest in re-basing the spend. I do recall the one go the former
government had at this was, ''Well, what we'll do is sell
government-owned buildings and re-lease them back.'' That was the theory
undertaken by the now Leader of the Opposition as Treasurer, later abandoned
when they worked out the cost benefit of that particular policy.
Ultimately, although our
voluntary redundancies, our reduction in the number of government agencies and
our savings efforts have been fought furiously against by the big spending
Leader of the Opposition, a man who would like to be in government, the man who
presided over the big expansion of government spend in the last 20 years, we
are determined to re-base that spend. Every single effort that we put into
things as exciting as government office accommodation to re-base the spend is
how we get back to a sustainable operating surplus and paying down debt. I am
looking forward to showing the Liberal Party in the not too distant future how
to go about restoring the finances.
whole topic of government office accommodation a bit dull, but I assure the
member I do not. I find it very, very interesting. It has been somewhat of a success
by this government. When we came into government, I asked the Department of
Finance how much space the government actually has by way of direct ownership
or lease, and nobody could tell me. We did not know how much space government
as an institution had and was paying for. So we have done that work, and
combined with what has been the state's largest voluntary redundancy
scheme, and what has been an unprecedented reform program in reducing the
number of government departments, we have also been able to have a government
office accommodation reform program. At last year's budget, that was
expected to generate just under $150 million in savings over a five-year period
by the time it was fully implemented and to reduce our footprint by about 50 000
square metres. I am happy to say that our program is going well. We have
already reduced the size of the government footprint by about 10 000 square
metres, saving around $35 million already. We expect by 2021–22 that
will increase to $50 million.
That is another reason why, when we go about reforming
government, there are other opportunities to find savings to re-base the spend
of government, which we had to do because when we came into government, we
found record operating deficits, record debt, and a previous government that
had no interest in re-basing the spend. I do recall the one go the former
government had at this was, ''Well, what we'll do is sell
government-owned buildings and re-lease them back.'' That was the theory
undertaken by the now Leader of the Opposition as Treasurer, later abandoned
when they worked out the cost benefit of that particular policy.
Ultimately, although our
voluntary redundancies, our reduction in the number of government agencies and
our savings efforts have been fought furiously against by the big spending
Leader of the Opposition, a man who would like to be in government, the man who
presided over the big expansion of government spend in the last 20 years, we
are determined to re-base that spend. Every single effort that we put into
things as exciting as government office accommodation to re-base the spend is
how we get back to a sustainable operating surplus and paying down debt. I am
looking forward to showing the Liberal Party in the not too distant future how
to go about restoring the finances.
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