Announcement of plans to shrink the Tasmanian public service branded “gutless” by unions
Public sector union leaders have accused the government of being “gutless” for failing to front a meeting about which jobs would be targeted by a hiring freeze on non-essential roles.
Tasmania
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Public sector union leaders have accused the government of being “gutless” for failing to front a meeting about which jobs would be targeted by a hiring freeze on non-essential roles.
Unions met with top bureaucrats on Monday after the weekend announcement by Treasurer Guy Barnett.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Monday confirmed the 37,000-strong public sector needed to shrink by around 2500 positions, or around six per cent, as previously reported by the Mercury.
Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) state general secretary Thirza White said the head of the state service and representatives of the government were absent from Monday’s meeting — which had not explained which jobs were in the firing line.
“These are the questions that the Premier needs to answer: he needs to define who he sees as essential and non-essential, and it is gutless not to front up and tell us,” she said.
“Every public sector worker has a right to know whether their job is safe and the public has a right to know what services are we cutting because you cannot make these cuts and you cannot reduce the size of the public sector according to his plan without having a very real impact on Tasmanians.
“We already know when you cut the back line that the front line has to pick up that work.”
Premier Rockliff said the head of the public service and agency chiefs would decide which jobs would go — but did not explain why the government had hired so many workers who were now deemed to be non-essential.
“We’ll do this in a very calm and methodical way where we all recognise … that the budget as it currently is needs to be put on a sustainable footing and a pathway to surplus,” he said.
“Every state government has these challenges, and we need to work with all stakeholders, including our unions, to ensure that we can get a public service that is delivering for Tasmanians in those essential key areas that Tasmanians care about, our schools, our hospitals, our police and our public housing and ensure that those services are delivered.”
Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday said the plan would do nothing to attract people to the understaffed areas of the Tasmanian public service like child protection and the justice system.
”The Treasurer needs to know that the public sector is full of human beings and Tasmanians who live and work here and love what they do,” she said.
“It is just completely unacceptable that the government thinks that they can push this out on non-elected people, leaders in the public sector who didn’t make the decision.
Health and Community Services Union secretary Robbie Moore said public servants were angry and upset by Sunday’s announcement.
“The treasurer and the premier need to come out and explain who is going to lose their jobs here, how this is going to impact on the services,” he said.
“The entire public service cannot face the sort of cuts that this government is talking about that will affect our hospitals, our health system, our education system and our entire public service. It would decimate services to Tasmanians who are already struggling.”
TCCI Chair Wayne Davy said reducing public sector headcount was a good first step.
“We support a fit-for-purpose public service, which is essential given the fiscal position of the state and into the modern world that we live in,” he said.
”The public service is critical for our day to day existence but it needs to be fit for purpose and efficient and drive the outcomes that the state needs to achieve.”
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Originally published as Announcement of plans to shrink the Tasmanian public service branded “gutless” by unions
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