Barry welds the axe

Image via WikipediaWell thats the story in today's Telegraph:

THOUSANDS of public servants face the axe in a slash-and-burn state budget made even tighter by the global share meltdown.

Barry O'Farrell's money men Mike Baird and Greg Pearce flagged cuts of up to 25 per cent in the Coalition government's first budget on September 6, as they grapple with drastic revenue reductions since global stocks plummeted.

But an internal war has broken out, with the National Party fighting to stop cuts in Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner's 8000-strong Department of Trade and Investment.

It is understood Primary Industries is facing cuts to its budget of up to 25 per cent, with several grants programs to be axed.

One in three jobs in NSW Health's head office - up to 400 positions - are on the chopping block in a $30 million budget pruning, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Elements of the Department of Community Services budget will be outsourced at a lower cost to the private sector and many other public service jobs are set to be contracted out.The only area to be spared the axe will be transport infrastructure, in a sign the government wants to send a message it is serious on transport.

Mr Baird would not comment on the cuts but has confirmed that property tax revenues, GST receipts and general tax receipts are being drastically revised downwards in the wake of the new global financial troubles.

Despite this, the government still intends to deliver surpluses but is having to slash and burn to do so.....

Hope its true.. I have been saying for years most Public Service administration  jobs should be competitively outsourced. That's what companies do to much of their non core business such as share registry administration. Remember one of the great reforms of the Howard government was the privatisation of the old CES.

Barry grabs the money first

Sounds like a good idea to me:

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell ... playing hardball with the federal government. Picture: Brad Hunter Source: The Australian

PREMIER Barry O'Farrell has threatened to punish the federal government by increasing state mining royalties if it fails to help fund the North West Rail Link and other infrastructure.

Increasing royalties would hurt the federal Budget because, under the super profits mining tax deal, any increase in state tax on mining leads to the federal government taking an equal amount less in royalties.

A similar move by West Australian Premier Colin Barnett stripped $2 billion from the federal Budget.

Any increase in NSW royalties would put Treasurer Wayne Swan's $3.5 billion surplus for 2012-13 at risk.

"We reserve the right to consider all measures in the budget," State Treasurer Mike Baird said yesterday.

"Our desire is to have a constructive relationship with the federal government but, we will make no apologies for standing up for NSW.".....

Kristina Keneally (OH-D) wants a US style election

Image via WikipediaApparently our Premier Kristina Keneally (OH-D) thinks she can win the next election by turning it into a US style competition between her and Barry O'Farrell.

KRISTINA KENEALLY   wants to force a presidential-style election, focusing the minds of voters on a choice between two leaders.

Drastically behind in the polls and with a scandal-prone team lacking credibility, Labor strategists have urged the Premier to try to frame the election as ''brand Kristina'' against ''brand Barry''...

Animosity between the pair has intensified markedly since the final question time of Parliament, when Mr O'Farrell presented her with a copy of The Little Aussie Fact Book, suggesting she still had much to learn about her adopted country.

''It was a juvenile joke that had no context and seemed to have no intent other than to make the point that I wasn't born in Australia,'' Ms Keneally told The Sun-Herald.

''I think it's hypocritical to address multicultural groups weekend after weekend, saying he values the contribution of migrants to this country but then to allow his backbench and himself to act in another way in the Parliament.

So you complain that Barry is drawing attention to your lack of understanding of Australian culture yet you want to run some sort of US governor race. I don't think that is going to work

Say no to raising drinking age

Image via Wikipedia

Fred Nile wants to raise the drinking age to 21 and our American Premier, Kristina Keneally,  wants to have a debate on the subject.  The only reason I can see is to divert peoples attention from the self destruction of her own party.  If  18 year olds can be expected to vote the can be expected to drink responsibly. Bad behavior caused by public drunkenness are a policing issue. Fortunately Barry O'Farrell has rejected the proposal.

Barry's table problem

Barry O'Farrell is still having problems over his decision to ban newspapers from publishing school league tables:

The Herald published the literacy and numeracy results of three schools yesterday - Sydney Girls High, Hornsby Girls' High and Macarthur Girls High.

Ms Firth said Mr O'Farrell had two options: take the Herald to court or repeal the legislation.

''If he really thinks newspapers should be prosecuted, he needs to back up public statements and take The Sydney Morning Herald to court,'' she said. Any citizen can now take the Herald to court under the legislation, and if they win they are entitled to half the proceeds.

Apparently other NSW liberals also think Barry goofed big on this one:

After yesterday's story Opposition MPs privately expressed dismay that Mr O'Farrell had agreed to the legislation drawn up by Mr Kaye and backed by the Opposition's education spokesman, Adrian Piccoli, in June.

One MP complained it was a ''horrible mess'' but Mr O'Farrell had no choice politically but to hold his ground.

He said it was clear when Ms Gillard produced her website report card in January that anyone would be able to create a league table.

''We're locked in now. It's kind of ridiculous,'' the MP said. ''When you have got the website, you can create your own league table any time you want to.''

Another MP said: ''We're reaping what we sowed. Once you have taken a clear view you have to stick with it.''

I'm still aghast that a Liberal would support legislation that would ban newspapers from publishing such information. Mr O'Farrell claims Liberals core beliefs are "Freedom, Choice, Competition and Responsibility". He could have avoided this mess by sticking to them.

Banning School League tables

The NSW Liberals have decided to ban the publishing of school league table. The Shadow minister gives his reasons here:

What the Bill stopped was ranking of schools from best to worst. A ranking system that is simplistic and wrong because it does not take into account the challenges that individual schools face. Issues like isolation for schools in western NSW, the level of wealth of families, or the fact that kids come from a non English speaking background all effect school performance in tests.

This ranking might make great media headlines but they can also do significant harm to the schools affected. Some of the toughest schools in NSW have the best Principals and the best teachers with the hardest working kids working from a low base. They do not deserve public humiliation by being the subject of simplistic league tables...

What rubbish. The government is not obliged to use league tables they can use and publish a weighted system if they like. The issue here is one of freedom of speech, something I though Liberals believed in. Here is what Brendan Nelson had to say:

Dr Nelson, who pioneered the release of school information as federal education minister between 2001 and 2006, was "flabbergasted" by the Coalition's support for the amendment.

"I'm not an advocate of government-constructed league tables, but if somebody wants to construct a league table on the basis of publicly available information, they should be able to do so," he told The Australian.

"The last time I looked this was a free society."

I thought so too.