Buswell must compare apples with apples

Greens MP Alison Xamon today called for the Treasurer Troy Buswell to release the costing models underpinning his support for the outsourcing of public sector jobs.

Mr Buswell used figures from the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services at Acacia Prison to demonstrate the savings he believes can be found through outsourcing.  Unfortunately, that report did not compare Acacia prison with a similar public prison, but with the public  prisons system as a whole.  The public system provides a range of services for prisoners prior to placement at Acacia and is required to process prisoners daily, where Acacia does not.

“It is an unfair and unrealistic comparison,” Ms Xamon said.

“It is vitally important that the full costing of public services be made available, including the cost to the public of managing any outsourced activities,” Ms Xamon said. 

“It is also vital that adequate training in contract drafting and management be undertaken by public servants who might manage any outsourced activities.  The Auditor General’s report into the outsourcing of Main Roads road maintenance activities is a case in point.”

The full cost of privatisation needs to be calculated in assessing whether to privatise state utilities and functions - such calculations would, for example, identify the true costs of stockbrokers and lawyers and other consultants paid in order to effect any sales and compare the loss of dividends/other revenue/capital gains against savings on interest and other savings from debt reduction.