Public service staffing blowout blamed on Palmerston Hospital, police bottle shop inspectors

THE Territory Government has blamed staffing at the new Palmerston Hospital and police liquor inspectors on bottle shops for blowing its cap on public service numbers

The Territory Government has blamed staffing at the new Palmerston Hospital and police liquor inspectors on bottle shops for blowing its cap on public service numbers

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THE Territory Government has blamed staffing at the new Palmerston Hospital and police liquor inspectors on bottle shops for blowing its cap on public service numbers.

In March, the Government announced the number of full-time equivalent public servants would be capped at 21,118 following a recommendation from former Western Australian under-treasurer John Langoulant in his independent review into Budget repair.

But the Government said on Wednesday it had now increased the cap by 277 positions, due in part to a need to employ more frontline workers.

The number of full-time equivalent public servants had reached a record 21,760 in the June quarter but fell to 21,547 in September and will now be capped at 21,395.

The Territory Government has blamed staffing at the new Palmerston Hospital for blowing its cap on public service numbers

The Government said the introduction of the Palmerston Regional Hospital – which opened its doors last August – had seen an extra 120 staff employed, while another 73 full-time equivalent employees had been hired within the NT Police Force.

Most of these were police auxiliary liquor inspectors stationed on bottle shops in Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.

The cap was also adjusted by another 98 positions after staff from the Territory Wildlife Park and the Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption were left out of the original cap.

Another 19 extra positions have been created in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources including extra staff to implement regulations around fracking.

The Government sacked more than 50 public servants on executive contracts this year and has forced others to agree to a pay freeze.

But it faces a further battle trying to get unions to agree to its plan to cap pay increases for all public servants at $1000 per year – regardless of their level.

Ms Manison said the forward estimates had factored in the flat $1000 pay increases which had been a recommendation from the Langoulant review into Budget repair.

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But she said the Government was still negotiating with unions over the issue.

“This has been an incredibly difficult conversation because clearly for many of the unions it flies in the face of enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations and how they go about business,” she said.

Economics Professor Rolf Gerritsen from Charles Darwin University’s Northern Institute said the Northern Territory’s public service had “too many people who manage and not enough who do”.

“The more people manage they reduce the productivity of people who do,” he said.

“It’s the way of large organisations.”