Thousands of public service jobs on the chopping block

[Pelican Press 0]

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Thousands of public service jobs on the chopping block

Thousands of public service jobs are set to be slashed as a debt-riddled state eyes billions of dollars of budget savings.

A review of the Victorian public service has been commissioned by the Labor government, ahead of the May state budget.

“This independent review … (will ensure) … a laser-focus on every dollar of expenditure in the Victorian government’s budget,” Premier Jacinta Allan said on Thursday.

The review will be led by Helen Silver AO, who served as Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary under former premiers John Brumby (Labor) and Ted Baillieu (Liberals).

She’s been tasked with axing between 2000 to 3000 jobs to find “several billion dollars” of savings.

The looming losses would equate to about five to six per cent of state public sector jobs.

The government wants to trim waste, duplication and inefficiencies linked to jobs and programs, however, frontline roles such as teachers, nurses, police, crime and child protection are not in the review’s scope.

Treasurer Jaclyn Symes, who took over from long-time treasurer Tim Pallas in December, said the state had to deal with its “recurrent” budget problem.

The aim is to get the public service down to the share of employment that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I do not shy away that some of those (decisions) will be difficult and some people won’t like some of the recommendations,” Ms Symes said.

Ms Silver will hand in interim recommendations to be considered for Ms Symes’ first budget on May 20, which was delayed until after the upcoming federal election.

A final report is due by June 30 and will be released alongside a government response.

Mr Pallas sought to cut 3000 to 4000 jobs in his 2023/24 state budget but the public sector wage bill is still expected to grow from $38.3 billion in 2024/25 to $41.6 billion in 2027/28.

“Previous attempts haven’t worked,” Ms Symes said.

“That’s why I’ve brought in an expert such as Helen.

“I’m determined that this process will deliver results that Victorians expect of me.”

The public service has already delivered more than $5 billion in savings in the last three budgets, Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt said.

“Crazy, ill-thought-through proposals end up costing the government more as our population booms and demand for services grows,” she said.

“I thought the government said they’d learnt from Werribee.”

Victoria’s net debt is on track to hit $187.8 billion by mid-2028.

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