Now, I might be a bit conservative, but I have never been an economic rationalist. I have always been wary of tendering out a service just for the sake of it. If an agency is performing well, or a business is performing a good service to the people of the ACT – let it be. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
The Green Shed has performed a great service to the people of the ACT for well over a decade. Citizens who are up in arms about the decision have told the media that Sandie Parkes and Charlie Bigg-Wither and their team are loved and respected by their community and employees alike. They pay their staff well; employ a diverse range of people, including people with disabilities; provide goods and clothing to the needy for free; and donate on a regular basis to community service organisations. Just the sort of small business Canberra needs and Canberrans love.
I have used them a lot over the years, and often go there to see if there is something I can pick up that I need. I have obtained items varying from roof tiles to old used tools, videos, and books.
Vinnies does a great job, but they are a different organisation, and tend to charge a lot more. They are also a national organisation.
I doubt if Vinnies can do a better job, and I’m certain the cost of items will most likely rise significantly.
The other issue is what will happen to the Green Shed staff. Whilst many may well be picked up by Vinnies, it is inevitable that some won’t.
Back in 1995, when I was the Minister for Children, Youth and Community Services, the then-Chief Minister, Kate Carnell (an economic rationalist), wanted me to put out to tender one of the services my department performed. I recall it was providing services to foster carers. I did my sums, and worked out that the non-government provider that was interested would charge a lot more to do the same job, and that there was no guarantee it would do a better job than my public servants were doing. I told Kate that unless she could prove that, by putting it out to tender, we would get a provider to do the same job at least as well as what we already had and do it more cheaply, then no way.
My rule of thumb was that if the current provider could do the job for the same price and just as well as any likely competitor, we should not change the current set-up.
I don’t think Kate was all that impressed, but she accepted the logic, and dropped the matter.
The Liberal Opposition needs to pressure the Green/Labor government, and try to extract from them all the facts about this decision. It may well be that this was just another bad decision from a tired, complacent government that gives lip service to supporting good community enterprises like The Green Shed.
