Labor leader Dean Winter has unveiled his vision for Tasmania’s future, outlining a 10-point plan to slash government spending by an estimated $150 million.
During his budget reply speech, delivered in state parliament on Tuesday, Winter said Labor needs to “change” and embrace a “pro-development” stance, acknowledging the party’s recent electoral woes.
“The last four election results have given us a verdict. The voters never get it wrong. Which means we got it wrong,” he said.
Winter’s 10-point plan includes a range of measures to tighten government spending, including:
1. Bring more consulting services in-house, as the Federal government has done successfully.
2. Conduct an audit of all outsourcing contracts to ensure taxpayers are getting value for money. And we will not hesitate to renegotiate or terminate contracts that are not delivering cost savings, high-quality outcomes or which could be delivered better in-house.
3. Ban pork-barrelling and rorts to stop taxpayers being ripped off. We will pass a law to make all government grants go through a rigorous assessment process.
4. Stamp out dodgy deals and the improper use of public money by enhancing the powers and independence of the Tasmanian Audit Office. Our Auditors have the weakest powers of all any similar agency in the country and we believe that needs to change.
5. Ensure decisions are taken with a long-term view of the state’s finances, by including 10-year projections for debt and deficits in every budget, as Saul Eslake has recommended.
6. Improve financial transparency and the policy development capacity of the entire Parliament, by establishing a Parliamentary Budget Service. We will negotiate a deal to enable a Treasury officer to be based within the Federal PBO to help reduce the cost.
7. Establish a Review and Evaluation Unit in Treasury so failed programs and policies can be identified and ended.
8. Examine opportunities for specialised delivery of services.
9. Explore merging the generic IT infrastructure of various government departments to reduce maintenance costs, strengthen buying power and improve cybersecurity.
10. Introduce performance-based budgeting that links government spending to measurable outcomes.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff responded by accusing Winter of ‘copycat behaviour’, saying the government already has plans to improve the Coordinator-General’s role.
“Rightfully, Dean Winter’s attempt to abdicate his democratic responsibility to unelected bureaucrats has fallen flat,” Rockliff said.
“So understandably, he’s reverted to his trusty copy of the 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future and cloned one of our policies to place at the centre of his Budget reply speech today.”
“I look forward to Mr Winter and his team supporting these important improvements when they enter the Parliament.”
