‘Don’t think that’s controversial’: Dutton defends WFH crackdown

Peter Dutton has defended his plan to get more public servants back into the office as Labor warns his cuts will hit pensioners, veterans and those with a disability.

Peter Dutton has struggled to explain why only Canberra public servants are being targeted in his work from home crackdown, as polls show female voters are turning away from him amid the unpopular policy.

Mr Dutton, who attempted to deflect when grilled over the results, was asked why he was targeting only a third of the public service workforce.

“In Canberra, you've got different dynamics around travel, and you've got different dynamics on the regional parts where public servants are working remotely,” Mr Dutton said.

“We're very happy for flexibility in that workplace as well, but it's gone from 22 to 60 per cent right?”

“We're getting the most efficiency for taxpayers out of that investment and I don't think that's controversial.”

He said he was not proposing changes to the EBA and accused Labor of trying “to scare women” over their policy.

His comments come as the Albanese government warned pensioners, veterans and those with a disability will suffer most from Mr Dutton’s promise to cut 41,000 public service jobs.

It comes as analysis reveals 75 per cent of new positions are outside of Canberra.

And a deep dive of Australian Public Service data also revealed four of every ten new public servants hired by the Albanese government work in welfare, Defence and veterans, aged care or NDIS agencies.

The new figures will be used by federal Labor to rubbish Mr Dutton’s claim the public service had ballooned in Canberra, while turning the fight into one based on a potential loss of critical frontline services.

Mr Dutton and the Coalition have promised to cut 41,000 public service jobs should they take government, though they’ve not yet said from which departments those workers will come from.

The Coalition has promised not to reduce frontline services, and argued the ballooning of the bureaucracy in Canberra is not helping families in a cost of living crisis.

“The reality is here in the suburbs … where families cannot afford to pay that bill,” Mr Dutton said this week.

“Ballooning the public service by 41,000 is not an efficient way of helping families.”

But 75 per cent of the 34,034 extra public servants hired between June 2022 and December 2024 are located outside of Canberra, with many in based Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.

And nearly four out of every ten of the new public servants work in critical frontline and welfare agencies, like the NDIA, Defence, Services Australia, Veterans’ Affairs, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

Employment Minister Murray Watt called on Mr Dutton to “look public servants in the eye and tell them he doesn’t value their jobs”.

“He needs to look every pensioner, veteran, single parent or person living with a disability and tell them he doesn’t value their needs,” he said.

“Peter Dutton is going to cut more than 41,000 public servants and Australians will pay.”

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said there was “no way” Mr Dutton could cut 41,000 public service jobs “without cutting the services people rely on”.

“His cuts will mean pensioners and veterans waiting longer to get the payments they’re entitled to, and see processing times for Medicare rebates go backwards,” she said.

Federal Labor has argued the extra workers has helped to halve the waiting time for age pension applications, reduced processing times for a low-income card from 31 days to 16 days, and caused call wait times to fall from an average of 30 minutes in to just over 20 minutes.

A total of 4063 extra workers have been employed at the National Disability Insurance Agency since the Albanese government came to power — the largest increase of any agency.

Services Australia, which handles Centrelink and other welfare payments like the aged pension, has been boosted by 2750 workers since mid-2022.

And those jobs have largely been outside Canberra, with 837 new Services Australia staff in Queensland, 647 in Victoria, and 750 in New South Wales.

Originally published as ‘Don’t think that’s controversial’: Dutton defends WFH crackdown