IMC-Link Principal Economist’s response to the 2001-12 budget released on the 16 of June 2011:

“We were promised a tough budget, and we have one because there are genuine cuts to major activities. The Department of Health and Human Services budget has been slashed by $100 million, the Department of Education has been reduced by $46 million with up to 20 schools closing.

Apart from the immediate task of restoring the financial fortunes of Tasmania, it is a budget driven by an end goal to lift the productivity of the public sector by getting the state level of public service with fewer jobs.

The biggest question that arises from this policy is how productivity will be measured and by who. Are the agencies responsible for showing productivity, or will an independent body be responsible for determining productivity increases and the effect of these on the community.

Too often in the past governments have made it appear that they are economising when they have been doing is shifting costs onto alternatives.

Public sectors cutbacks will stimulate business confidence and provide an incentive for businesses to invest and grow. Public sector expenditure will be replaced by private expenditure. This we call crowding out.

The budget carries shades of the 1990/91 budget introduced by Michael Field. A harsher budget to rescue Tasmania’s debt riddled state. This was not popular at the time and it is my belief that this budget will not be popular either.

This crowding out effect could also be addressed in tax reduction modes, which was modest indeed. The strategy clearly requires wage moderation, so some scared cows may have been confronted (wage parity)

• Australian Democrats – Tasmanian Division
Response to Tasmanian Government Budget 2001-12

The Tasmanian Division of The Australian Democrats has labelled the Labor/Green budget as “too much, too late‟.

The Democrat’s Tasmanian President, Mr. Tim Neal, believes that the preceding years of economic growth in Tasmania has been squandered by the Labor Party and its Green allies. “We have seen many years of economic sunshine in this state, and what has the Government done to ensure lasting prosperity? Nothing! Instead of good economic management we have instead seen waste and extravagance.”

It will be our major essential services that are hit the most with excessive cuts in education, police and health. Mr. Neal believes such that large staff cuts in these sectors may end up endangering members of the public, “What will happen to public safety when these cuts occur? If there are insufficient staff numbers in the police or health sectors to respond to emergencies then people‟s lives may be at risk.” Mr. Neal understands what a valuable role our emergency services play in the community, and that these job cuts will place increasing demands on those that are left to perform addition duties to those they already have, “The new budget promises to not cut more than 100 Full Time Equivalent Police officers. There are currently (or as at 2009/2010) 1260 police officers, who are overworked and already under funded. Is The Premier happy with the prospect of having police officers who are worked even harder? We should be rewarding the men and women who are putting their lives on the line for us. Not punishing them.”

State Democrats Vice-President, Pauline Hutton, said that the job losses would have a huge social impact on many communities within Tasmania, “Unemployment will increase family stresses. Many have loans and mortgages, how will they now make the repayments. The cost of living is spiralling out of control in this state; Aurora alone will increase their charges by eleven percent. Many who are affected by these job cuts will struggle to find alternative employment in an already tight market, or will have to move to the mainland to get work.”

Ms. Hutton also noted that school closures would create further burdens on families, “Closing schools will mean parents may have to send their children further afield to receive an education. This may mean extra distances, and therefore extra costs, through transporting their children to school. Ms. Hutton pointed to additional safety concerns, “Children may have to be dropped off earlier at schools so their parents can still get to work on time if they have to commute an extra distance to another school, and this may mean dropping or picking up children out of school hours, leaving them unsupervised and vulnerable.” Mr. Neal added a response concerning increased class numbers in those schools that remain, “The premiers statement that the vast majority of research suggest that smaller class size has little effect on the educational outcomes is completely misleading. Most research in this field supports smaller class sizes not only for the students but also for the teachers. When was the last time Ms Giddings spoke to a school teacher and asked how they would feel about teaching a class of 40 students instead of 20?”

Prospective Young Democrats Tasmania Representative, Aaron Moss, believes that our Government‟s reckless economic management will be an encumbrance to the state for decades to come, “Even with this budget it is still in deficit. If they have not been able to give us surplus budgets when we have had economic boom, what will happen now that we are going through economic instability? This will be a burden not only for our current generation, but for future generations as well. Why should they suffer the economic incompetency of the Labor Green alliance?”

Mr. Neal made some poignant comments on this budget, “It‟s the budget we unfortunately have to have, but should never have had to suffer. The Australian Democrats realise that hard decisions need to be made. However, it appears that Ms Giddings has made the easy decisions.”

Mr. Neal then pointed out the hypocrisy of this government by the very virtue of Premier Giddings receiving a pay rise which is rubbing it right in the face of the Tasmanian public, “With the Premier taking her own 4.2% pay increase one has to ask just how dire the budget really is? How can she, in good conscience, take an increase on her already highly inflated wage?” The Democrats will keenly await a response from the government, but merely expect more of the same, lame, diatribe that this Labor led shambles has been emitting for many years.

• Health and Community Services Union      

HACSU State Secretary Chris Brown today accused the State Government of deceiving the Tasmanian Community when they claim that the $150 million that will be slashed from the health budget will not impact on services.

The Premier and the Minister are leaving it to Department Heads to make the decisions about where services will be cut rather than making these policy decisions themselves and engaging in a debate with the community regarding the real impact of the cuts.

The budget handed down yesterday requires government departments to make saving of $237 million over the next four years.  $150 million of this is required to come from the Department of Health and Human Services.  The means that while the DHHS accounts for 35% of the State Budget, 63% of the saving over the next four years will come from DHHS.

“In the next financial year alone, DHHS must save $100m.  To put this in perspective, it is the equivalent of closing down the whole of Ambulance Tasmania, closing the whole of Oral Health Services and sacking 300 nurses, doctors and allied health professionals and the saving required after next year financial year from DHHS is the equivalent of taking 600 staff out of the public hospital system” said Mr Brown.
An analysis of the Giddings Budget handed down yesterday has highlighted that the Government is aware of the impact of cuts on services to be delivered to the Tasmanian Community.

“$3m has been stripped out of Mental Health Services at a time that metal health is crisis and there is a general acknowledgement that mental health is one of the highest priority areas for increased funding.  The recent Federal Budget acknowledged this by injecting $2.2 billion into mental health services” Mr Brown said.

“The Budget papers predict a 12% increase in the dental waiting list for adults but there is less that a 1% pa increase in funding over the next four years.”

“$5m will be ripped out of children and family services yet the number of children in out-of home care is predicted to rise by 14%”

“Ambulance Tasmania will receive an increase of just $1m over the next four years yet Emergency Ambulance responses are increasing by 14% each year.  The Government is predicting that the waiting time for an ambulance will increase in all regions between 8-10%.”

“Clearly there will be an impact on the delivery of health services to the Tasmanian Community and the Government must come clean and be honest and up front with Tasmanians about how this will affect them.”

• MEDIA RELEASE – 17 JUNE 2011

Advocacy Tasmania and Speak Out Tasmania today joined in condemning the Tasmanian Government’s decision to slash disability advocacy resources. Both organisations lost funding for a full-time disability advocate position after five years of successful operation.

Advocacy Tasmania CEO, Ken Hardaker, describes the cuts as major policy failures.

“In tough times like these, we expected the Tasmanian Government to prioritise services to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community. We also expected that any cuts to services would be proportionate in their impact. Sadly, this Budget has failed us on both counts. Our clients don’t only need specialist disability services – they need advocacy support in getting those services. It is hard to imagine a more vulnerable group in our community.”

“The cuts to funding for our two organisations mean a 25% decrease in disability advocacy services at a time when demand for our services continues to grow. That is not proportionate for an agency (DHHS) facing 5% cuts across its services. That simply isn’t fair.”

Speak Out Manager, Mary Mallett posed a question to Minister O’Connor and her Cabinet colleagues.

“What does the Minister expect us to do with the 200 Tasmanians who now won’t receive our support? Our organisations are last-resort services – people come to us when they have run out of other options. When we refer these people to the Minister’s Office, what will the Minister and her staff offer them?”

“Less than a year ago, our Premier was championing a proposed Charter of Human Rights that would have highlighted Tasmania’s obligations to people with disabilities. This funding decision denies Tasmanians with severe and profound disabilities their basic right to support and to adequate services. Economic circumstances may change, but our commitment to human rights must remain steadfast.”