THE position of State treasurer is similar to that of the CEO of a large business.
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In this case his task is not an easy one as the system is flawed and he is faced with an appalling $2.4 billion wage bill to pay for 25,000 public servants - almost half the State budget (Examiner, August 23 ).
Questions need to be asked.
Surely a benchmark can be used such as a simple ration of government employees to total population.
Such a bench mark should include all three tiers of government in Tasmania, Federal, State and Local.
The benchmark could be established with comparison to the average of all other States.
This would at least provide a useful starting point and a target to ensure efficiencies and not necessarily to be achieved by cutting essential front line vital services in education, health and police
Currently inefficient workers are shunted sideways within the system which creates the need to employ more people to carry out that work, unlike in private enterprise ineffective public servants are retained in the system.
For too long we have allowed our State to gradually deteriorate through governments of all parties unwilling to seriously tackle the huge cost to our State of over government.
Raising State taxes is not the answer
With the serious problem of debt, now is a vital time for bipartisan action, for honest, candid and intelligent discussion to seek answers and support a stand to tackle the State’s huge debt.
_ M. CAMPBELL-SMITH, Launceston.