Crisafulli says he has no appetite to ‘cut and burn’ public service
LNP leader David Crisafulli has declared he has no appetite to ‘cut and burn’ the Queensland public service as he described the current size of the state’s bureaucracy as ‘good’.
QLD News
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David Crisafulli has declared he has no appetite to “cut and burn” the Queensland public service as he described the current size of the state’s bureaucracy as “good”.
Speaking before the Queensland Media Club on Thursday, the LNP leader argued the growth of the public service under the Palaszczuk government had been unsustainable.
But he said despite that increase, it didn’t mean that those public servants who currently worked for the State didn’t deserve to have a job.
It was the first time he has publicly indicated his position on the public service since becoming Opposition Leader.
“Contrary to what my political opponents will seek to portray, I’ve got no appetite for a cut and burn of the public service,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“But I tell you what I am going to do – I am going to empower them to feel like they matter and we’re going to make sure that the people at the frontline are making decisions again.
“I intend to make sure that I lead a public service that feels valued and respected and realise that their jobs are secure.”
Mr Crisafulli indicated the public service was currently at a “good” size, insisting that those who worked for the State deserved job security.
“The (Palaszczuk) government by its own admission realised that it (the public service) grew exponentially early on in its term and as a result has tried to do things to rein that back in,” he said.
“But it’s one thing to rein in expenses into the future – it’s another to give people job security, and that’s what they deserve and that’s what they’re going to get.”
The most recent report from the Public Service Commission revealed there was a total of 233,401 full time equivalent positions within the public service as of March this year – up from 201,409 FTEs in March 2015.
Mr Crisafulli said he had learnt “a thing or two” from his time during the Newman government, when the number of public servants was reduced significantly.
“Because I lost my seat,” the former Cabinet Minister said.
“Do you know what I did after I lost my seat – I went and walked the floors of my two departments to say thank you to both of them. And it was the hardest thing I ever did.”
Also asked if he would commit to a target of net zero emissions by 2050, Mr Crisafulli would not say – but flagged a “clear shift”.
“Whilst I’m not going to give you what our policy is going to look like ... it will be real and it will be tangible,” he said.
“And it won’t walk away from our industries that are important to us.”