14/11/2007
Finance Minister Nick Minchin yesterday did more damage to his credibility
as John
Howard’s numbers man.
Senator Minchin’s claim yesterday that public service numbers have
decreased over
the past 11 years does not take into account the effect of privatisation
on public sector
numbers.
Telstra alone employed almost 90,000 people when it was privatised. Add
to this the
people employed by other Government enterprises that have been privatised
since
1996, including Australian National and the Federal Airports Corporation,
and the
Senator Minchin’s ability to do the numbers for John Howard has
to be seriously
questioned.
On Senator Minchin’s watch as Finance Minister, employment in the
general
government sector has increased by 26 per cent. The cost of running Government
has
increased almost 50 per cent or $16 billion per year.
Senator Minchin’s deceit is designed to cover up the blowout in
public service costs
under the Howard Government. It is not the first time he has got into
a mess with
claims on spending. In recent months his statements on Labor’s
spending have been
just as unreliable:
• On 17 April 2007 the Finance Minister claimed Labor’s commitments
totalled
$20.1 billion;
• By 8 August 2007 he claimed that those commitment totalled $14.2
billion; and
• On 27 August 2007 the Prime Minister claimed Labor’s spending
amounted to
$4.6 billion.
Over a four month period Howard Government claims regarding Labor’s
spending
miraculously fell by over 400 per cent.
Senator Minchin clearly struggles when dealing with simple facts and
basic arithmetic.
14 September 2007
