TNAG-1361-FCO40-1807-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 48

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In paragraph 150 of his speech, the Financial Secretary indicated that social aspirations in fact have no limit. In other words, what we as a community want is infinite, only that the resources required are without doubt finite. The Financial Secretary tells us that he envisages "continual downward pressure by the Administration on public sector expenditure," matched by "continual upward pressure on revenue". The crux of the budget is to achieve this sort of balance. The Financial Secretary accepts that subsidised operations are unhealthy operations unless fully justified. am glad to see that we are spending masses of public money on education 17% of total expenditure: ten primary schools, five secondary schools as well as numerous other elements are proposed in the field of education. In all this figure is $7.81 billion a sum more than our entire budget a few years ago. Of course, education like the family and all other good things is a community aspiration. We must henceforth consider these "huge sums of money involved" (para. 70), to see how this money can best be spent. We should never forget the proper needs of the technical and vocational sector of education, upon which our future prosperity depends. I therefore urge that the grants to the Vocational Training Council should be kept at an adequate level.

For within each vote, he must ask the two questions which he poses at the end of his speech: "What are the priorities? Where is the money coming from?" If we fail at every point to ask these questions we merely get bigger government. Big government comes about when the demand for services expands. But let us recall President Reagan's wise

words: "Government does not have the solution to our problems. Government is the problem. Neither the President of the USA nor the British Prime Minister has been able to roll-back the surging tide of public expenditure. Let Hong

Kong heed the warning of budgets out of control in a number of states in Western Europe. What is needed is adequate, but not

excessive, government expenditure of public money.