‘Leopard doesn’t change its spots’: Far North MP warns public sector jobs are on the line under the LNP

Fears that public servants will face the sack should the Coalition claim victory this Saturday have emerged, with Far North MPs warning “non-frontline workers” are in the firing line.

Member for Cairns Michael Healy says he’s concerned about possible job cuts within the public sector. Picture: Brendan Radke

Fears that public servants will face the sack should the Coalition claim victory this Saturday have emerged, with Far North MPs warning “non-frontline workers” are in the firing line.

The LNP has pledged to establish an independent public sector commission with forced redundancies ruled out as part of David Crisafulli’s plans to “rebuild” key departments.

But when asked what would happen if the commission recommended voluntary redundancies instead, shadow employment minister Brent Mickelberg said he wouldn’t “deal with hypotheticals”.

“We need more teachers, we need more nurses, we need more coppers on the job meeting the needs and services that Queenslanders need,” Mr Mickelberg said.

“We need to build the capability of the public service and I think that’s a really important initiative to ensure that we’re focusing on the services that Queenslanders need and deserve.”

Shadow employment minister Brent Mickelberg was coy when discussing the LNP’s proposed public sector commission. Picture: David Clark

The loss of 14,000 public servants and pledge to privatise $34bn worth of assets the last time the LNP was in power remained a concern for voters, Member for Cairns Michael Healy said.

“A leopard doesn’t change its spots,” Mr Healy said.

“The reality is that this is exactly what they did last time. They are telling people that they’ll have a review.

“What they did last time was they came in and they started these massive cuts.

“They’re doing exactly what they’ve done before. What they do in their first 100 days will be disastrous.”

Former union delegate and Member for Barron River, Craig Crawford, added: “The first thing the Newman government did was they went after anyone that was on contract.

“Anyone that was working on a contract – and there are thousands of people on six or 12-month contracts – the first thing they did was give notice to people that their contract wouldn’t be renewed.

“That’s not a redundancy. That’s just a ‘Don’t come Monday’.”

The Opposition Leader’s calls to reduce the public service’s reliance on consultants didn’t necessarily mean job losses weren’t on the horizon, Mr Crawford said.

“I’m seeing exactly the same red flags coming up from David Crisafulli as we saw with (former premier) Campbell Newman,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Leopard doesn’t change its spots’: Far North MP warns public sector jobs are on the line under the LNP