Public Service Alarm Bells As 33 Jobs Go

23 January 2008

FEAR jolted Canberra's army of public servants yesterday they woke to the news that the agency that plans, maintains and promotes much of the capital was to lose almost a third of its staff.

The Federal Government's plan to slash the public service claimed 33 of the 89 jobs at the National Capital Authority.

"This slash-and-burn type of blunt instrument doesn't work," said the Canberra regional director of the Commonwealth Public Service Union, Vince McDevitt.

He feared the cuts were simply the start of wider sackings across the 140,000-strong Commonwealth bureaucracy.

"We've seen it before when John Howard came in and got rid of 30,000 public servants, only to have to hire back more than that many to keep the service operating properly," he said.

Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus has told the NCA it must continue to meet its obligations in promoting, planning and maintaining the national capital within a slimmer budget.

But Mr McDevitt said it was absurd to imagine the authority could maintain the most monumental part of Canberra when it was losing more than a third of its staff, let alone meet wider obligations. He was referring to the parliamentary triangle, where the National Library, the National Gallery of Australia, the Old Parliament House and other major buildings are located.

An NCA spokeswoman said the authority would continue to undertake core functions such as planning and maintenance, but some "more discretionary areas", such as events and marketing, would be curtailed.

The Government has previously made clear it does not plan wholesale sackings. Instead, it would reduce public service numbers not replacing employees who leave.

However, the Government has imposed a 2% cut on its departments and agencies. This is on top of a 1.25% efficiency dividend imposed by the former Howard government.

Mr McDevitt made clear that he believed the staff cuts at the NCA were simply a taste of worse things to come, and the sort of cost cutting that was required would mean sackings.

"These cuts we've seen today have gone a lot further than anyone expected, and they come on top of 47 positions lost in the Department of Foreign Affairs just last week.

"We're really bracing ourselves for what might be announced in the Rudd Government's first budget in May."

All those who have lost their jobs in the NCA will be redeployed in the public service, a spokeswoman said.

She could not explain how this would mean a reduction in costs across the public service.

Mr Debus told NCA executives this week the authority's budget of around $20 million in 2007-08 had to be cut by $1.6 million. Next year this would amount to a cut of more than $4 million once the efficiency dividend was included.


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