Public Service Jobs To Go
The Age
Friday February 16, 1996
More than 2500 federal Public Service jobs would disappear under a coalition plan to slash the running costs of the bureaucracy by 2 per cent every year, but no one would get the sack.
In a push to pare back the size of government, the coalition has also proposed big cuts in information technology and proposed the abolition or scaling down of a range of Labor's key industrial relations and legal agencies.
Public-sector unions yesterday slammed the plan as the ``most destructive attack on the public sector in Australia's history" and pledged widespread industrial action if it was ever implemented.
In its costing statement yesterday, the coalition said the cuts in running costs would cover all federal departments except Defence and would save about $158 million a year and $432 million over three years.
The cuts in staff would be achieved by not replacing a proportion of the 3000 to 6000 public servants who quit each year, rather than through forced redundancies. The running costs of bureaucracy had blown out by more than 22 per cent in real terms over the seven years to 1994-95, according to the coalition's supporting documents.
In addition to the 2 per cent ``efficiency dividend", the coalition would also abolish or scale down a range of federal bodies and agencies.
The agencies include Labor's national media liaison service, the Federal Industrial Relations Court, and the Trade Union Training Authority.
Others to be pared include the Family Court, Customs, the National Crime Authority, the Industrial Relations Commission, the Occupational Health and Safety Commission, the Law Reform Commission, the Attorney-General's Department and the Prime Minister's Department.
Overall, spending on the industrial relations portfolio will by cut by $99 million or almost 25 per cent over the next three years.
Under the coalition's plans, there would also be a cut of $985 million over the next three in spending on computer technology for the Public Service as well as cuts of more than $300 million in spending on advertising and consultancies.
The joint national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Ms Wendy Caird, said the coalition proposed to rip $8 billion from the Public Service in what she described as ``Fightback revisited".
``No one should misunderstand what it would mean for ordinary people. Access to assistance and entitlements from any Public Service agency would be in jeopardy."
THE COALITION'S KEY CUTS
1996-97 Over 3 years
$ m $ m
NEW SPENDING COMMITMENTS 658.9 2796.2
SPENDING CUTS
Departmental running costs 115.9 432
Expenditure on consultancies* 80 243
Information technology 350 985
Advertising budgets* 20 60
Productivity Commission 2.3 12.6
Administrative Services 40 132
Higher fees/ cutbacks in legal
. bodies 27.8 82.8
Customs Service 9.2 50.4
Communications and arts 35.2 98.3
Labor market program re-allocation 4.4 68.4
Higher education 75.1 171.3
Vocational education and training 37 111
Finance 2.5 12.5
Foreign Affairs - aid and running
costs 148.9 507.9
Better Practice Program - health 100 300
Pathology and radiology benefits - 185
Building Better Cities program 20 80
Industrial relations bodies 41 99.2
Industry programs 47 109.4
Local government 8 24
Parliament* 10 30
Primary industry programs 9.1 32.6
Prime Minister and Cabinet -
removing duplication 9.8 50.4
Removing mineral export controls,
and other departmental efficiencies 8.8 26.3
Pension Bonus Plan 40 290
Fraud control - Social Security 60 180
Stricter enforcement of Activity
Test 118 331
Requiring migrants to wait two
years for benefits
84 616
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs 35.3 105.8
Transport - shipping reform 27 95
Reduction in public debt interest
and fees from Spectrum 50.4 155.4
Reduction in public debt interest
from partial sale of Telstra - 470
Improved cash management
arrangements 100 100
Total 1734.3 6305.5
EXTRA REVENUE
R & D concessions and other
measures* 196 727
Fuel oil excise concession for
alumina refineries -10 -29
Introduce an excise concession
for re-refined oil -1 -5
Modify tariff concession system* 417 1306.6
Stop misuse of charitable trusts
and other corporate tax rorts* 10 476
Anti-tax avoidance measures-trusts* - 1600
Public Debt Interest from surplus 74.1 918.3
Aviation 1.6 8
Numbering plan 16 48
TOTAL 703.7 5049.9
NET IMPACT ON BUDGET 1779.2 8559.2
* Already identified by Labor
© 1996 The Age