Labor claims Gold Coast 1,537 public servants at risk under coalition

The jobs of hundreds of Gold Coast public servants could be at risk according to Labor. Read why

Labor claims the jobs of more than 1500 Gold Coast based public servants could be at threat from cuts proposed by the coalition.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton, on Monday, walked back his pledge to slash 41,000 public service roles, instead vowing to reduce the workforce through natural attrition

“Throughout this (election) campaign Peter Dutton has tried to pretend that every public servant works in Canberra and that just shows how ignorant he is,” Labor Senator Murray Watt said, seizing on the coalition’s about-face, while spruiking Labor’s Gold Coast candidates on Wednesday.

“Right here on the Gold Coast there are about 1500 Australian public service officers who work here in everything from Services Australia processing pensions to the Depart of Veterans Affairs, down at the airport working for the Department of Home Affairs doing border protection.”

Labor claims the Liberal Party and Peter Dutton will cut public servants on the Gold Coast. Picture Thomas Lisson / NewsWire

According to Labor, more than 500 extra public servants have been employed across the Gold Coast since 2022 under the Albanese Government.

Senator Watt said public servants helped on average 700 people on Gold Coast everyday through Service Australia and more than 15,000 others were supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It’s those tens of thousands of Gold Coasters who will be worse off because they’ll have to wait longer to get Veterans Affairs payments, they’ll have to wait longer on the phone and in service centres to get assistance with their pensions,” he said.
“It’s real people here on the Gold Coast who will pay the price of Peter Dutton’s cuts to the public sector. The Gold Coast Labor team is going to be standing up for their jobs and these services right up until election day.”

In a statement a coalition spokesman said: “We will achieve reductions across the Australian public service, particularly in Canberra, focusing on roles that are not frontline services or national security positions.” 

Originally published as Labor claims Gold Coast 1,537 public servants at risk under coalition