BY MELANIE SJOBERG
SYDNEY Promoting his latest state budget, released on June 24, NSW Labor treasurer Michael Egan has described it as a "true Labor budget", arguing that it fulfils social justice criteria because of the extra outlays in most areas of social services spending.
Egan's pitch seems to have convinced the NSW Labor Council and NSW Council of Social Services they are generally applauding the hike in education and health spending. Only the fine print tells you that these are increases only when compared to last year's budget and so ignore any cutbacks in spending imposed in previous years.
An apparent $800 million bonus creamed off in stamp duty from Sydney's property market bubble provided Egan with leeway to make most increases in social services spending.
Education and training are marked for a $542 million (7%) boost over the previous year's funding. The NSW Teachers Federation, however, points out that the funding increase for public schools is only 1.2%, while private schools will get a 4.5% increase in funds. In reality, funding for education and training continues to slide. According to the NSW Teachers Federation, education spending comprised 28.4% of the state budget in 1989 but has fallen to 22.6%.
TAFE students face increased fees. The cost of some courses will triple, reaching as high as $1650 a year.
The Department of Community Services (DOCS) received an additional $162 million. According to Egan's figures, this is a 25% increase on the previous year. The funding increase to DOCS was hardly unexpected, given widespread media coverage of critical staffing shortages and reports that child abuse complaints rose by 119% over the past two years.
Industrial pressure from members of the Public Service Association resulted in an immediate allocation of 130 caseworkers to DOCS last July. In December, the government committed $1.2 billion over the next five years for a total of 875 new caseworkers. The real question is whether this is adequate to deal with the estimated 185,000 complaints expected for 2003-04.
The real unknown in the budget is how much workers in the public sector will be required to help pay for the government's financial sobriety, which is, according to Egan, "the envy of most of the world".
The budget is silent on the real impact of the government's creation of new super departments such as the Department of Commerce, which brings together the previous three departments of fair-trading, public works and industrial relations. It merely makes reference to finding better ways to deliver services.
The budget papers clearly state that the impact of the restructuring is not expected until August 26. A cabinet sub-committee was established before the budget and top public sector bureaucrats are being asked to provide details about how their departments can "trim the fat".
The education department is already facing 1000 job cuts and rumours abound that job cuts in the commerce department will be upwards of 400.
There appears to be no allocation for public sector wage increases in the budget, despite the fact that all public sector workers are faced with expiring enterprise agreements over the next 12 months. The NSW Teachers Federation has already lodged a claim for a 25% pay increase and been slapped in the face with a government offer of 3% in the first year.
[Melanie Sjoberg is a delegate in the NSW Public Service Association and a member of the Socialist Alliance.] From Green Left Weekly, July 2, 2003.
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