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FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1990
PRESSING HARDER ON 'BASELINE' TO RESTRAIN RECURRENT EXPENDITURE
THE
THE NEED TO RESTRAIN RECURRENT EXPENDITURE AND THE SIZE OF CIVIL SERVICE MEANS THE GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TO PRESS HARDER ON "THE BASELINE'
THE COST OF EXISTING SERVICES, THE SECRETARY FOR THE TREASURY, MR HAMISH MACLEOD, SAID TODAY (FRIDAY),
ADDRESSING A LUNCH MEETING OF THE AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, MR MACLEOD SAID THIS WOULD INVOLVE NOT ONLY DOING THINGS MORK EFFICIENTLY AND ECONOMICALLY, BUT ALSO REVIEWING WHETHER SOME OF THE SERVICES WERE NEEDED AT ALL, OR WHETHER THEY COULD BE CARRIED OUT MORE EFFECTIVELY BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
IMAGINATIVELY
"IT WILL ALSO MEAN THAT WE WILL BE LOOKING WITH A HARDER, COLDER EYE AT PROPOSALS FOR NEW SERVICES," HE SAID.
IMPROVEMENTS,
HE
WHILST THERE WOULD STILL BE NEW SERVICES AND STRESSED THAT THEY MUST REPRESENT REAL VALUE FOR MONEY AND SHOULD BE FUNDED BY RESOURCES RELEASED BY SAVINGS FROM OTHER ON-GOING ACTIVITIES.
CONCERNED AT
MR MACLEOD SAID THE GOVERNMENT WAS PARTICULARLY THE HIGH RATE OF GROWTH OF RECURRENT EXPENDITURE. THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM WAS TWOFOLD.
THE FIRST WAS NOT SO MUCH THE INCREASING SIZE, BUT THE INCREASING COST, OF THE CIVIL SERVICE.
WHILE STRESSING THAT THE GOVERNMENT MUST PAY REASONABLE WAGES IF IT WANTED AN EFFICIENT CIVIL SERVICE, HE POINTED OUT THAT IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, IN ADDITION TO "NORMAL" ANNUAL PAY REVISIONS, THERE HAD BEEN A ROUND OF OTHER REVISIONS AS A RESULT BASICALLY OF THE RENNIE AND STANDING COMMISSION EXERCISES.
"THE LATTER IS STILL UNDER WAY.
"AS THIS SPECIAL ROUND OF PAY REVIEWS DRAWS TO A CLOSE, AS THE VARIOUS PAY BODIES COME NEARER TO COMPLETING THEIR WORK, BOTH THE TAXPAYER AND THE EMPLOYER CAN REASONABLY ASK FOR PRODUCTIVITY, HE SAID.
**
INCREASED
THE SECOND PROBLEM, HE SAID, WAS THE LOWER PRODUCT (GDP) GROWTH RATE.
GROSS
DOMESTIC
WHILE REAL GDP GROWTH IN THE FOUR YEARS TO 1990 WAS ABOUT 14 PER CENT, 7 PER CENT, 2.5 PER CENT, AND 3 PER
CENT, REAL GROWTH IN RECURRENT EXPENDITURE IN THE SAME PERIOD WAS ABOUT 3 PER CENT, 6 PER CENT, 6.5 PER CENT, AND 9.5 PER CENT, HE SAID.
"IT WILL NOT TAKE A STATISTICIAN TO DISCERN THAT WHILE THE ODP GROWTH RATE HAS BEEN TRENDING DOWN, THE RECURRENT EXPENDITURE GROWTH RATE HAS BEEN TRENDING UP," HE SAID.
/MR MACLEOD