‘We’ll slash more fat cats’: Kean one-ups Minns in pay-cut frenzy

The Coalition has vowed to cut the number of public servant fat cats by 20 per cent, one-upping a Labor election pledge which would save $500 million.

The Coalition has vowed to cut the number of public servant fat cats by 20 per cent, one-upping a Labor election pledge which would save $500 million.

Labor leader Chris Minns’ plan to slash senior public servants by 15 per cent and freeze their pay was revealed in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

The coalition immediately matched the commitment.

“We’re making the same commitment to slash bureaucratic costs and pay. But also we’re going a step further by slashing the number of senior public servants by 20 per cent,” Treasurer Matt Kean said.

As treasurer, Premier Dominic Perrottet vowed in 2019 to cut spending on senior public servants by 10 per cent every year.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has promised to put the broom through senior public servants. Photo: Edwina Pickles / SMH

But instead of cutting spending, bureaucrat numbers have ballooned since the election.

Mr Perrottet pinned the government’s failure to cut fat cats by on Covid-19 and the need to beef up the public service during the pandemic.

“We’ve faced, in our state, unprecedented challenges over the last four years,” he said.

“You build a public service to look after the people of New South Wales and deal with the challenges that we face every day.

“That’s exactly what we have done here in New South Wales. We’ve just gone through a one in 100 year pandemic.”

The Premier said the government was well-placed now to follow through on Tuesday’s pledge to cut spending on executives by 20 per cent.

“We’ve made sure the public service throughout our time in government is tailored to look after the people of our state where we sit today and the assessments that we’ve made as an executive is that we can reduce the size of senior executive positions by 20 per cent and those savings obviously be invested in front line services,” he said.

Upping the pledge.... Matt Kean. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Chris Minns will headline a Labor push to slash spending on high-paid public servants and push the cash back into NSW’s essential services if elected. Picture: Monique Harmer

The move came after Minns promised to impose a two-year pay freeze on bureaucratic fat cats if Labor wins the election so that an extra half a billion dollars can be funnelled into essential services.

The significant savings measure will come from temporarily scrapping pay rises for the 3,680 “senior executives” in the NSW government sector who already earn, on average, $272,000 per year.

It comes after the Coalition government flunked a key election promise to cut spending on senior executives by 10 per cent every year.

Instead of the government cutting costs, the number of top-tier public servants has blown out by 34 per cent since the last election.

It comes after the Coalition has failed to fulfill their promise of cutting senior executive spending by 10 per cent each year. Picture: Gaye Gerard

According to Labor estimates, taxpayers are now copping a $1 billion wage bill every year for senior executives across NSW government agencies, departments, and state-owned corporations.

Some top bureaucrats earning a yearly salary of more than $600,000 – nearly six times the wage of an average nurse.

Two-thirds of Labor’s $500 million fat cat savings measure will come from cutting the number of senior executives by 15 per cent.

The cuts – which will be achieved by not replacing top public servants after they quit – are expected to reverse the growth of senior executives over the past term of government, reducing numbers back to what they were in 2019.

According to advice provided to Labor, at least 368 executives are expected to leave the public service each year.

The bloated Transport cluster is expected to bear the brunt of the senior executive cull. Roles that could be scrapped when their current occupants leave include Transport for NSW’s “Director of Breathtaking Simplicity” and a director of the “Make it Happen Program,” also at TfNSW.

The Labor Leader said the “tough decision” was designed to “prioritise what’s important”.

“As interest rates go up again, family budgets are tightening, and the same goes for governments,” Mr Minns said.

“That’s why I’m committing to a two year pay freeze on politicians pay and we’ll cut the excessive spending on senior bureaucrats.

“I want every dollar available to go into fixing our schools and our hospitals and paying our paramedics, teachers, nurses, police officers and other frontline staff that we so desperately need.”

Opposition Treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey said that they pay freeze would not scare off top talent due to already high salaries in the public service.

“Twelve years of this government has created a surplus of top bureaucrats and a deficit of essential workers.”

“The salary we pay one of these top executives could have hired either two brand new teachers or two paramedics,” he said.

“The NSW Government already offers some of the best pay for senior executives across the public service and the wage freeze will still allow us to attract the best talent.”