Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I must say that for as long as I have been in parliament I have been mightily impressed by the Public Service in this country. And I do accept the argument that some public servants put to me from time to time—that politicians are always concerned about job losses in other industries but that, when it comes to job losses in the Public Service, they are remarkably quiet. That is probably because sometimes we have to participate in decisions that mean job losses in the Public Service. I have been involved in that myself, so I do not come here with clean hands on this issue. However, I do want to raise a wider issue in terms of maintaining a strong, effective, productive Public Service in this country. I do not think you do that by having commissions of audit going into the Public Service and asking senior public servants and one agency, which reported to a recent estimates committee that I was involved with, to fill in a form—a survey—and then having that commission of audit making decisions about people's lives, people's future and people's jobs in the Public Service on the basis of that survey.

I just do not understand how this commission of audit that the government is placing so much emphasis on can do the job that the Public Service itself does on a regular basis. In fact, the Australian Public Service Commission has done extensive analysis about the productivity, effectiveness and responsiveness of the Public Service over many years. I know that in my area of interest—human services—some 6,000 jobs have been lost over a period of time. I accept that Labor was responsible for many of those job losses. But the problem is that there has to come a time when, if you are going to have a robust and effective Public Service delivering what the Australian community needs in terms of public services, you have to make a decision to effectively fund that Public Service for the future.

Again I accept—and I am not going to be hypocritical about this—that the idea that budgets have to be dealt with on the basis of more and more job cuts in the Public Service must eventually run out of steam. I do not think there is any difference between a public servant in Canberra who has a young family and a career losing their job and a worker at SPC, Toyota or GM losing theirs. There is no difference; the problem is the same. If you have no job, you have no capacity to look after your children. It is devastating.

In the six years I have been here I have never heard any discussions or debates about the need to ensure some fairness and equity for public servants in this country. It may have happened when I was not here or when I was not watching from my room—I am sure there have been such discussions. But I just want to add my voice to the voice that says, 'Public servants do a great job in this town; public servants do a great job around the country.' In my view, public servants demand the same consideration, respect and concern we show for those experiencing job losses everywhere. I take the view that public servants play a fantastic role. Some of the most intelligent and effective people I have ever met have been public servants. They deserve respect and they deserve job security.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted.