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‘There will be no cuts’: Crisafulli’s letter to Queensland public servants

By Marissa Calligeros
Updated

Queensland’s new Premier David Crisafulli has assured the state’s public servants their jobs are safe and will task his ministers with spending time in their departments, outside 1 William Street.

Crisafulli was sworn in as Queensland’s 41st premier on Monday morning and made it one of his first orders of business to send a letter to the state’s entire public service to reassure government employees they would be spared from Campbell Newman-era style job cuts.

“We have an ambitious and important agenda in the interest of Queenslanders, and you, the Queensland Public Sector, are vital to what we need to achieve,” his letter reads.

“Whilst there may be some initial realignment in leadership and in machinery of government changes to effect these new policy and priority settings, there will be no employment cuts to the public service workforce.

“Having seen the impact of job losses in the past on the productivity and morale of the public service, I will not be repeating those actions.”

“There will be no employment cuts to the public service workforce.”

David Crisafulli’s letter to public servants

Crisafulli said his LNP government would “invest in the strengths and capability of the public service” and work to create a “one-team approach” between the executive government and the public sector.

“A strong and stable public sector, creates a strong and stable Queensland,” his letter reads.

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“I will be tasking ministers to have greater visibility in the departments they lead, including spending time in offices outside 1 William Street.”

Crisafulli is the LNP’s first Queensland premier since Campbell Newman’s 2012-2015 stint, when 14,000 government employees were sacked, despite pre-election promises that they had “nothing to fear” from an LNP government.

The new premier said the public service could expect changes in departmental leadership and structure.

He made his first staffing decision on Sunday, sacking Labor-aligned Department of Premier and Cabinet Director-General Mike Kaiser.

Public Sector Commissioner David Mackie was named acting director-general of the department, although his appointment is tipped to become ­permanent.

Speaking shortly after being sworn in as premier by Queensland Governor Jeannette Young on Monday, Crisafulli said he wanted public servants to be able to give “fearless and frank advice”, free from political interference.

“I want the public service to know that if we are to get on top of the service delivery issues we have in Queensland we need them,” he said.

“What we don’t want to see is the constant changes to government departments that we have seen in recent years – that doesn’t give the stability for the public service.”

The LNP was on track to claim at least 48 seats, ahead of Labor’s 30, with 10 seats still in doubt on Monday morning. Forty-seven seats are needed for a majority.

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Meanwhile, the former Labor government continued soul-searching on their election defeat after losing some regional seats for the first time in a century. Labor lost all of its seats in Townsville, Rockhampton and Mackay electorates, which had been red for more than 100 years.

Former premier Steven Miles said that he couldn’t have run a different campaign given the number of Queenslanders who had already made up their minds, especially on crime issues.

“I think in hindsight, the government was too slow to respond to the escalating crimes that we saw in 2021 and 2022, particularly in places like Townsville,” he told ABC Radio.

“I really want to get out to those regions and hear more from locals about what they would have preferred to see us do.”

with AAP

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Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/there-will-be-no-cuts-crisafulli-s-letter-to-queensland-public-servants-20241028-p5klz5.html