Premier Peter Gutwein announces a review of the public service

Premier Gutwein’s vision for a sweeping review of the state’s public service has been met with cynicism, with critics calling it a smokescreen for frontline job cuts.

A sweeping review of the state’s public service will find ways to deliver services more efficiently, Premier Peter Gutwein says. Picture: Zak Simmonds

A SWEEPING review of the state’s public service will find ways to deliver services more efficiently, Premier Peter Gutwein says.

But the opposition described the review as a smokescreen for public service job cuts.

Mr Gutwein announced the terms of reference for the review at a Committee for Economic Development lunch in Hobart yesterday.

He said the review, to be headed by Dr Ian Watt, will report by the end of the year.

“I’m not going to use this review as an opportunity to slash the public sector,” he said.

“What I want this review to be is one whereby we can end up with a public service that is fit for purpose, that’s nimble, and importantly ensures that we provide the services to Tasmanians that they require.

“The public sector in Tasmania is largely based around an 1980s silos model. We want to ensure that we have a public sector that is not silos based, that is able to be nimble, responsive, and importantly provide the services that Tasmanians need in the 21st century.”

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein addresses the media. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

On of the terms of reference calls for consideration of the further decentralisation of the public sector workforce, something Mr Gutwein said he favoured.

“I think that’s a question that we need to ask,” he said. “With technology, it seems to be quite apparent to me that we can have public servants based in other locations in the state, but again it has to be efficient, it has to be effective.”

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Labor spokesman David O’Byrne said he was unconvinced by the Premier’s protestation on jobs and said the government has long been at odds with its own employees.

“This is a Treasurer who took six years of war and berating his public servants and the public service and he abjectly failed – he tried to beat them into submission.

“This review is a Trojan horse to cover for a billion dollars of debt, half a billion dollars of cuts and what this will do is lead to job cuts to frontline services.

“So Tasmanian should not be fooled by this treasurer, he’s going after frontline services.

“He’s going after jobs to completely cover his incompetence as treasurer.”

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