Fury over state job cuts
Josh Gordon
June 23, 2012



THE Baillieu government's industrial relations nightmare is set to worsen, with accusations it used the cover of Friday evening to release key details of public service sackings in areas such as police, education, health and roads.   

Before a Monday deadline imposed by the industrial umpire to hand over details of its plan to slash 4200 positions, Premier Ted Baillieu and Treasurer Kim Wells late yesterday issued a press release announcing that some departments are set to lose almost 15 per cent of their staff.

The Department of Human Services - responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Cummins inquiry into child protection - will cop the biggest hit, losing 500 staff.   

The Baillieu Government's industrial relations nightmare is set to worsen.       



The Department of Justice - which oversees the government's law and order agenda - has been slated to lose 480 staff, while the Department of Sustainability and Environment will cut 400 public servants.

Mr Baillieu pledged ''front-line'' services would not be harmed.

''The sustainable government initiative does not apply to front-line service delivery roles, and exemptions apply for specialist support staff to ensure skills critical to the operational needs of government are maintained,'' he said.

The government initially announced 3600 cuts in December last year, adding a further 600 in the May budget in a desperate scramble to deliver on a pledge to keep the budget in surplus.

Mr Baillieu yesterday said 13 government departments and entities had been ordered to cut 3615 staff over the next two years. That leaves 585 staffing cuts not accounted for.   

Community and Public Sector Union Victorian secretary Karen Batt said the timing of the announcement, just before 5pm on Friday evening, ''displays the contempt the government has for its workforce''.

''The contempt will be returned in spades at the next election,'' Ms Batt said. ''We'll fight for every service, no CPSU member will take on any additional work and services will collapse,'' Ms Batt said.   

Fair Work Australia had given the government until Monday to produce the previously secret list.

A team of a dozen government lawyers have been arguing against the order as it was not in the public interest.

Mr Baillieu's office was later forced to issue a second statement, clarifying that the government wanted to ensure that departmental employees were advised of the allocations for their department prior to the release of any information by the union.

''Departmental employees were appropriately advised their department allocation this afternoon prior to it being released to the CPSU and to the media,'' the release said.

The cuts will also result in VicRoads losing 450 staff, Victoria Police shedding 350 jobs and the Department of Health cutting 200 staff.   

The Department of Transport will axe 175 staff, or about 14.6 per cent of its workforce.   

Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tim Pallas said: ''Thousands of Victorian families would wake Saturday morning to discover they don't have a job.

''Carving this many jobs from departments will have a massive impact on the delivery of key services.''

Victorian National Parks Association chief executive Matt Ruchel said there appeared to be little strategy behind the Department of Sustainability and Environment cuts.

''There is a danger that they will lobotomise the agency, in that they won't have the expertise to deliver on-ground responses to manage things like threatened species,'' he said.

''We would argue that these people are on the front line - the front line against species extinction.''

Mr Baillieu said 910 positions had already been cut through attrition and the non-renewal of fixed-term contracts since the first round of cuts was announced in December.   

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Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/fury-over-state-job-cuts-20120622-20tu8.html#ixzz1yYzse5zV

most of those positions should not have been there in the first place..its the usual fix the unemployment figures that Labor govts use.. fill up the public service with jobs that dont really exist..dont worry about the bills that we incur trying to pay for them..

like  most Labor govts I am sure the Vic public service blew out by at least 25%.

most of those will take a package I know someone that has taken 3 packages.. I dont worry about public servants..[and all but on of my family work in the public service] they always come out with more than most others in my experience.

Any worker Stupid enough to vote Liberal - What can you expect?

Liberals:

"Sacking people since 1944"

As many as thay can and love every second of it.

Baillieu is not sacking any low income workers, he is sacking public service fatcats making unreasonable wage demands the State cannot afford to pay because of the debt the Government has put the state in.  He has no choice and he knows it.  We are paying for that useless desal White Elephant they built till Kingdom Come apparently.