DISCUSSION ON PAPERS BY Mr MUNRO AND Dr HAWKER

Three speakers, Mr J. L. Evans (Education Department, Tasmania), Mr D. Moore (New Zealand Institute of Public Administration), and Ms D. K. Conroy (Queensland Institute of Technology) agreed that a major element in the papers was the demand for change. Reducing staff, though the commonest solution to the problem of "managing with less", did not necessarily lead to effective administration, especially when departments were expected to maintain the same range of activities. Mr Evans argued that change had to pay regard to the needs of clients. "We must see that those who are hurt are not those who can least afford to suffer". There might be ways of simplifying administration, such as a better sorting out of federal-state activities. Mr Moore asked whether it was a real option that governments should do less in an age of higher technology, more unemployment, and greater calls for equity and help to the underprivileged.