In the discussion about Brendan Smyth’s paper multiplication analysis of the ACT Government’s stationery budget we’ve had an interesting comment I think needs wider consideration:
- Personally if I was Mr Smyth I’d be more concerned that ACTION buses costing about $100 million a year and every passenger costs the government about $6 simply to get on. I’d be concerned that in 2008-09 $100 million of recurrent initiatives were introduced which are ongoing with questionable benefits in a vastly changed economic and social climate, that is $100 million extra a year everyone. Why not start reviewing all of those and demand from the government which of these will inevitably receive the chop. I’d be concerned that a territory like ours that receives about $1 billion in tax spends about $3 billion a year and the shortfall is made up through “other revenue streams” which are now going kaput swiftly.
I might even be concerned about the continued use of incremental accounting for a single city which creates it’s own variation of inflation and causes costs to only increase and requires very few savings and no justification for departments to simply spend as much as last year, plus inflation. I might even be concerned that between $300 – $600 million is going to be shifted because capital projects simply can’t be finished in time, even though they are supposed to be urgent of high demand and deliverable within the projected timelines. That is cash that could have been used for any number of purposes which now it can’t be. If I was Mr Smyth I’d be concerned about a rushed “stimulus package” when it would have been far more effective to try and finish the projects already begun rather than flinging another $12 million out the door on questionable grounds of “emerging capacity” within the building and trade industry.
I might even question the sense of a 1% arts spending when record high levels of capital works are being proposed. Want $5 million, that’s $5,000,000.00 back then remove that 1% and set a dollar figure like $300,000 or $20,000 or zero.
If I really wanted to tackle a big fish I might even ask why a government that receives $1 billion in tax a year can’t somehow work out a way to reduce the tax burden on the population, I might even investigate schemes in which genuine reduction of tax through revenue replacement would actually benefit the people I was elected to represent.
Yes all these things would trouble me more than paper and pens. But hey what would I know…
Discuss?