By Daniel Hurst
The union leader representing Queensland public servants says he agrees the total size of the public service needs to be reduced, so long as frontline services are protected.
The stance comes after Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman declared the overall size of the public service needed to be reduced through non-replacement of some departing employees.
Alex Scott of the Together union has backed Campbell Newman's calls for a smaller public service.
Mr Newman also told brisbanetimes.com.au he would not keep the 2.5 per cent annual cap on public sector pay rises, but the union needed to work with the LNP to reduce the total number of public service positions over time.
The comments prompted government claims that Mr Newman was channelling former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg, who was pilloried by unions at the last election over alleged plans to slash thousands of public sector positions, including through natural attrition.
Alex Scott, who heads the public-sector-focused Together union, said given the size of the deficit he accepted there would be reductions to the total size of the public service, but the issue was protecting frontline staff and not overburdening those who remained.
“We recognise in the current circumstances that the size of the public service particularly in non-frontline areas has to be reduced,” he told brisbanetimes.com.au today.
Mr Scott said he would work with all political parties to ensure their policies did not have a negative impact, and would not rule out campaigning for the LNP, in contrast to the anti-LNP approach taken at the last election.
Asked to reflect on the fact the public sector union was comfortable with reductions to the total workforce, Mr Scott said: “It's unusual, but I think our general approach to policies in state politics is not necessarily standard approach adopted by unions, but we're realists about the size of the deficit and having to work it through.”
Mr Scott said his members had concerns about the size of the bureaucracy in the Department of Communities and the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.
However, he called for more information about the LNP's specific plans.
“We'd been keen to get details about their budget program and the size of the cuts,” he said.
Mr Scott said reducing the overall size of the public service seemed to be a bipartisan position, with the government pursuing a voluntary separation program.
“We want to make sure if natural attrition is the only process used there need to be guarantees it doesn't impact on the frontline workforce,” he said.
Mr Scott said the union understood the significant budgetary constraints at present, but backed Mr Newman's planned removal of the wages cap, saying it would allow greater flexibility in pay negotiations.
However, it remained to be seen what practical effect this would have on wages outcomes, he said.
Acting Treasurer Rachel Nolan said the government's wages cap of 2.5 per cent or higher with productivity improvements was applauded by credit ratings agencies as a responsible budget measure.
She said Mr Newman's pledge to scrap the cap was irresponsible and suggested the LNP would never get the budget back to surplus.
“You can't wave cash at some public servants without putting thousands more on the chopping block,” she said in a statement.
Ms Nolan defended the government's program to reduce the size of the public sector by offering voluntary separation payments to public servants, saying there would be no forced redundancies.
This approach - with workers asked to lodge an expression of interest before they received an offer - allowed agencies to consider the potential effect on the workforce, a government spokesman said.
Ms Nolan said Mr Newman's comments about the public sector size “should send a shiver up the spine of public sector workers across the state”.
“Make no mistake – under a Campbell Newman-led LNP Government, Queensland jobs and Queensland industrial relations would come under severe attack,” she said.
“Mr Newman is not even in government and already has public sector workers in his sights.
“He should have the courage to be upfront with Queenslanders and set out exactly how many job cuts he is looking to inflict on the public sector.”
Mr Scott's union, formerly called the Queensland Public Sector Union, campaigned against the LNP at the last election, claiming the party's planned efficiency dividend would lead to thousands of public sector job cuts.
In 2009, the union also disputed assertions about the extent of savings that could be achieved through natural attrition.
Mr Scott said today the union's concern at the last election was that natural attrition would only go so far towards saving the money the LNP was hoping for and there were fears over the wider impact.
Mr Scott, who quit the Labor party earlier this year and has a frosty relationship with the government, confirmed the union would consider campaigning for the LNP at the coming election, depending on the detailed policies.
“It's possible,” he said.
“It's also possible we'll campaign for the Greens, or Katter's party or the ALP.
“We'll certainly be active in the state election but we'll be making judgment calls about what the policies are.”
During Mr Newman's interview with brisbanetimes.com.au, recorded on Friday, Mr Newman said the government had “allowed the public service overall to be too large in terms of what Queensland can afford”.
“Well I'm saying that we do need to see over time through attrition a reduction in the overall headcount, but not on frontline services which actually in many cases need to go up,” Mr Newman said.
“So this has to be a managed process. We'll work with the unions.
“Every year thousands of people actually do depart voluntarily from the public service and the idea is to manage that; that's an opportunity to actually not have pain, to not have cuts, but to actually change the shape and size of the organisation, so it then actually is affordable for all Queenslanders and we actually get the budget back into surplus.”
Mr Newman, who first raised his public service headcount concerns in March, is yet to detail how many positions might not be replaced in the long term under an LNP government.
He has also not stated how much extra pay public servants could expect under the LNP.
The Bligh Government is currently in the process of offering hefty payouts to non-frontline public servants as part of a two-year “voluntary separation program” to save money by farewelling 3500 public servants.
The program was forecast to cost about $250 million this financial year and then save $175 million annually from 2012/13.
dhurst@brisbanetimes.com.au
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