Shadow Treasurer, Curtis Pitt, says the Newman Government is cementing its position as Queensland’s worst employer by sacking its own workers, denying them adequate payouts and not telling affected communities how many jobs are going.
“Not renewing temporary contracts on this scale is simply sacking under another name,” Mr Pitt said.
“Any job lost in any community will impact the local economy. So too will the cloud of uncertainty hanging over all of the state’s 200,000-plus state government employees.
“The Newman Government’s first regional cabinet meeting in Townsville starting this weekend is an appropriate venue for the Premier to detail job cuts.
“The Premier’s own figures show almost 97,000 of those state government workers are in jobs outside Brisbane.”
Mr Pitt said the Premier’s own figures showed the spread of government jobs across the state:
- more than 14,000 in Cairns and Far North Queensland
- almost 10,000 in Rockhampton and Central Queensland
- more than 16,000 on the Gold Coast
- almost 6,000 in Mackay and the Whitsunday region
- more than 10,000 on the Sunshine Coast
- almost 2,000 in Ipswich and West Moreton region
- more than 11,500 in the Wide Bay-Burnett region
- almost 11,000 in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs
- more than 2,000 in Mt Isa and North West Queensland
- almost 2,000 in South West Queensland
- almost 1,000 in the Central West.
Mr Pitt called on the Premier and the Newman Cabinet meeting in Townsville to say:
- how many of those jobs were going in the LNP’s jobs purge?
- how many of those were frontline staff or supported frontline staff and would the LNP guarantee to keep them?
- how many of the 55,000 government workers identified by the Premier as temporary contract or casual employees were based in the Far North and how many of those were going in the jobs purge?
- how many of the state’s 6,600 teachers and 2,800 teacher aides on temporary contracts were safe from the jobs purge?
“The Newman Government is now easily Queensland’s worst employer. Not only does it plan to sack its own workers because it can’t fund its election promises, it refuses to say how many jobs are going,” Mr Pitt said.
“It is outrageous that the Premier will not put a number on his jobs purge until August.
“We need to know if frontline workers such as hospital cleaners, orderlies, nurses and others on temporary contracts are staying or going. There are 6,600 teachers and 2,800 teacher aides on temporary contracts — are their frontline jobs safe?”
Mr Pitt said It was only natural the state’s 200,000-plus government workers would freeze their spending decisions.
“They won’t be buying homes, renovating their existing homes, buying a car or booking holidays.
“All those decisions will flow through to tradies and other small business operators across the state,” he said.
“The Costello audit showed the LNP can fund its election promises only by sacking its own workers.
“That’s despite the Premier and Treasurer saying they had identified $5.7 billion in savings before the election.
“What they didn’t say is the savings would come at the expense of their own employees and their families,” Mr Pitt said.
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