The Liberals Brendan Smyth is attempting a heroic piece of misdirection:
Shadow Treasurer Brendan Smyth has criticised the Chief Minister for starting the ‘blame game’ on public sector cuts following the election of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.
“12 years of ACT Labor and they have done nothing more for job creation in the ACT than ride the wave of the public service sector,” Mr Smyth said.
“When the Canberra Liberals left Government, private sector employment was about 60%. Under ACT Labor, the private sector shrunk to approximately 49%.”
The matter is made worse by the Government’s inaction to address what ACT businesses need most, resulting in the ACT Budget Review 2013-14 report, noting:
…due to the lack of diversification in the ACT economy, this may also affect private sector hiring intentions. (pg. 14)
“The Chief Minister’s plea is yet another political stunt to continue its scare campaign. It’s important to note that job cuts have been a Labor initiative, and this has resulted in the highest unemployment rate in more than 11 years,” Mr Smyth said.
“The Chief Minister needs to articulate her plan to develop the economy and stop blaming Tony Abbott for her failures,” Mr Smyth concluded.
I’m all for having a go at the miserable failings of the ACT Government.
But let’s get some context. That 60% private sector number never accounted for contractors solely employed by the Commonwealth let alone “private” business providing services almost exclusively to the Commonwealth.
And during the public service’s golden run over the last decade who the hell would start a business here anyway?
When simply being able to file alphabetically makes one an over-achiever in the public service who’d want the harder work and lower wages of the non-executive private sector?
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