WA Treasurer warns public servants over budget leaks and political games
By Andrew O'ConnorPublic servants have been warned against leaking information and playing political games in the lead up to the Western Australian budget in May.
WA Treasurer Mike Nahan said he had been frustrated by a series of leaks in recent weeks, after which Government ministers had been forced to publicly reject suggestions of cuts to fire stations and library services.
Dr Nahan said in both cases, information was leaked to the media when no decisions had been made.
He said the Government's Expenditure Review Committee (ERC) did consider proposals put forward to cut library services, but rejected them.
"Someone did flag some major reductions in the budget to the libraries," he said.
"We as a Government ruled it out completely.
"We told them to go back and think seriously about it."
Dr Nahan was also critical of how those proposals were handled.
"It was an issue, I think, of the senior people trying to suggest drastic changes, leak to the press as a fait accompli, I simply reject that approach to Government," Dr Nahan said.
'Backroom efficiencies' but frontline services to stay
However, Dr Nahan said the Government remained determined to "drive backroom efficiencies ... including in library services".
But he said the Government remained committed to ensuring existing frontline services would be maintained.
He said the approach by some in the public sector of formulating unrealistic cost-cutting measures was frustrating and unhelpful.
"The process has been that certain people put up proposals that were impossible," he said.
"Government's looked at them, maybe considered them, and then they were leaked out to the media.
"That was a mechanism to attempt to stop us from undertaking efficiencies. We reject that.
"I just ask the public servants to cooperate with that rather than play political games."
The Treasurer said the budget would be handed down on May 14, one week later than expected.
It was delayed following the postponement of a meeting between Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey and state treasurers to consider the Grants Commission's review of the GST.
At that meeting, Dr Nahan is expected to be given Mr Hockey's response to WA's request for a change in the GST process in order to better shield the state's GST share from volatility in the iron ore price.
A 50 per cent drop in the iron ore price has so far stripped more than $7 billion from the state budget over the four-year forward estimates.