Public servants spared the axe as remuneration tribunal weighs new pay offer for high-flying executives
A plan to taken an axe to thousands of jobs from the public service in a bid to rescue the State Budget has been shelved, despite a spending blow out during the coronavirus pandemic.
Victoria
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A plan to slice thousands of jobs from the public service to rescue the State Budget won’t be revisited until after the pandemic.
A review of government spending by Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles and Department of Treasury and Finance secretary David Martine that began last year aimed to take the scalpel to spending to save almost $2 billion.
Department of Health and Human Services staff had even been in the firing line, but the plan was parked to protect jobs and second workers to the COVID-19 response.
The change of policy will hit the budget hard and jars with the experience of the private sector, but the Community and Public Sector Union says the alternative would be dire.
The decision comes after a state remuneration tribunal decision to boost the pay of senior executives in government by up to $40,000 mid-year.
Heads of departments in Victoria can now earn between $520,000 and $701,800 in their roles — although this is much less than federal department secretaries.
At the moment, the remuneration said all department bosses in Victoria earn between $530,000 and $650,000 — with Mr Eccles and Mr Martine the two highest earners.
The remuneration tribunal is now reviewing the pay of leaders in publicly-funded entities — for example the Grand Prix Corporation, water authorities, and V/Line.
Submissions by some of those bodies are pushing for a flexible system to enable them to recruit high-flyers in their fields.
Some of the highest-paid public sector executives are at the Treasury Corporation of Victoria and the National Gallery of Victoria — bosses of each earn more than $620,000 a year.
In a submission to the review, Grand Prix Corporation chair Paul Little says its former general manager was head-hunted by the private sector for more money.
The highest paid executive at the Grand Prix Corporation last year earned about $500,000.
A debate over the number of public servants in Victoria intensified last year due to revelations bureaucrat numbers had swollen by tens of thousands under the Andrews Government.
The decision to review spending and efficiencies was announced in last year’s budget but a spokeswoman for Treasurer Tim Pallas said “our focus right now is supporting businesses, workers, and every Victorian through this unprecedented crisis”.
While the policy has only been deferred, it won’t be revisited before the pandemic subsides.
Opposition waste watch spokesman James Newbury said there should be no delay in finding broader efficiencies, however.
“There are a lot of destroyed small business owners who would find the delay seriously offensive,” he said.
Community and Public Sector Union secretary Karen Batt said public sector staff had been a “surge workforce to tackle the pandemic” and it would be bizarre to take a knife to the public sector now.
“You go from recession to depression if you don’t stimulate the economy and protect people’s livelihoods,” she said.
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