Mike O’Connor: Public service bonus ‘shabby, shameful and irresponsible’

The State Government says a $1250 bonus to public servants will kickstart the economy. If that’s really the case, why not give everyone a crack at helping the bottom line, writes Mike O’Connor.

What to do – buy 120 bottles of the excellent South Australian cabernet shiraz presently discounted on my preferred wine buying website or have three nights at Noosa?

If I decide on Noosa, I’ll also be able to afford to have lunch and dinner at my favorite beachfront bistro as well as hose down a couple of coldies at the surf club afterwards.

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Then there’s that South Pacific cruise and the temptation to buy a bigger and better TV. My mobile phone keeps threatening to die. Maybe I’ll buy a new one. Decisions, decisions!

Fate, however, has smiled on me in guiding me along a career path that took me clear of the paternal embrace of the Queensland government’s public service.

Had it not done so, I would now be agonising over how to spend the $1250 bonus Premier Palaszczuk and Treasurer Trad are pressing into the eager palms of their white collared servants.

Treasurer Jackie Trad and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier this year. Picture: David Clark/AAP

If you have ever wondered what your vote was worth, then you now have the answer.

In fairness, the burden this largesse imposes upon the shoulders of these faithful servants is a heavy one, for according to Treasurer Trad, they are expected to use it to “kickstart the economy.”

If this free money was not handed out, then apparently the state’s economy would remain stalled. I would have thought that giving the nod to the various projects awaiting state government approval, like the Roma Street entertainment stadium might provide a more effective stimulus but then I am not blessed with the economic acumen of our elected leaders.

If Palaszczuk-Trad theory is correct, then it should be followed through to its logical conclusion. If handing out money will cause the economy to roar into life, then why not give everyone a crack at kickstarting it?

Instead of limiting the handout to 200,000 public servants let’s extend it to everyone who can produce proof of a residential address with a postcode starting with “4”.

Within weeks, the Queensland economy would be the envy of the nation. I’d have to line up at opening time to get a seat on the verandah at the Noosa surf club, elbowing my way through the throng of Queenslanders waving fistfuls of $50 notes, all desperate to kickstart the economy.

You can but imagine the conversation that took place when this latest sop to the union movement was proposed. How to sell a blatant example of a government in thrall to its union masters?

“I know! Let’s tell them that it will be good for the economy!”

Forget for a moment that state government debt is over $70 billion and projected to grow to $90 billion within four years and that the last thing the government can afford to do is give away money.

It’s the presumption that people will believe whatever they are told that grates. Are we really thought to be so stupid that on hearing that the government is handing out money to people who have done absolutely nothing to earn it, we will all nod our heads and say: “That’s fine. They’re going to kickstart the economy.”

It’s political arrogance writ large and a slap in the face for all those people who struggle to pay their way.

Any pensioners out there wondering how they are going to be able to pay their next electricity bill? Would $1250 help?

It’s shabby, shameful and irresponsible and an insult to all those Queenslanders who have to work for their wages.