Policy scraps Govt services

Press, 19 December 1984, Page 27

Policy scraps Govt services

NZPA-AAP Melbourne The Victorian Liberal Party has unveiled what it described as its foundation policy, announcing it would attempt to scrap every Government service, with the exception of the State Bank, if it gained power at the state election, due early next year. First to go would be the State Insurance Office and the Government Printing Office. The Liberals intend to contract that work out to private enterprise. Every other function of Government would be reviewed, and what could be contracted out to private enterprise would be. Announcing what he termed the most important policy document released by any political party in Australia in the last 10 years,

the Opposition Leader, Mr Jeff Kennett, said the policy would guarantee that not one public servant would be sacked. Public sector employment would be reduced through natural attrition and voluntary redeployment, Mr Kennett said. He said a Liberal Government would encourage public servants providing a specific service, such as the erection of electricity facilities, to form a company and tender for work. He criticised previous state and Federal Labour and Coalition Governments for allowing the public sector to expand at the expense of the private sector. Mr Kennett said that the Liberals would attempt to reduce public sector numbers about 3.5 per cent a year.