Of course the Government listens. And the Government also responds. This is the second general point I wish to make. Over the past three years there has been a revolution in the culture of our public service. The principles of performance and service are now the very essence of the relationship between the Civil Service and the community. I hope Members will not lose sight of this essential fact of Hong Kong's political and administrative life as they make their contributions to the many important debates which lie ahead of us in this session.
The Chief Secretary will have more to say on the subject. Sufficient for me to say briefly here that the totally transparent way my colleagues have spelt out our policy commitments and evaluate the results every year have given a whole new meaning to public administration.
In his Policy Address last month, the Governor stressed that the Government and the Legislative Council must work together, otherwise any plans to improve our services will amount to nothing more than good intentions. The Administration takes this policy to heart. My colleagues and I attach great importance to the views of this Council in shaping our proposals to Members. Of course, there will be differences of opinion. Of course, the Government will sometimes express its views very forcefully. Of course, there will be vigorous debate. But our guiding principle, our shared guiding principle, must be the best interests of the community we serve. Equally, the community has the right to know in full the arguments for and against the policy proposals under debate in this Council.
It falls to me to start the Government's response to the many important points made by Honourable Members last week. For me as Financial Secretary, the single most important issue was the very real concern which Members expressed over their perceptions of the current state of Hong Kong's economy.
I have been presented with a very substantial agenda. Members have asked me to produce packages to stimulate the economy, and to reduce inflation, unemployment, the income gap and taxes. In themselves, these are all laudable objectives, which the Administration is fully prepared to discuss further with Members. I will address these issues individually today and, in more detail, during the separate debates in this Council scheduled for next week.