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Submission to Inquiry by Senate Select Committee into Certain Aspects of Queensland Government Administration related to Commonwealth Government Affairs 1. The Select Committee was established to inquire into and report on a range of issues pertaining to aspects of Queensland Government administration relating to Commonwealth Government affairs including “any other matter the committee considers relevant”.1 It is submitted that as part of its work it would be reasonable for the Select Committee to inquire into the following matter. 2. In 2013 the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee of the Australian Senate reported on its inquiry into “Conditions of Employment of State Public Sector Employees”. The Committee had received submissions from many people who had been adversely affected by the Newman LNP Government’s decision in 2012 to cut the jobs of thousands of Queensland government workers (including those holding temporary and permanent positions). The majority report of the Committee, while supporting the managerial prerogative of State governments to make decisions pertaining to their respective public sector workforces,2 concluded: Public sector reform is a contentious issue. The committee understands that staffing reductions and voluntary redundancies can have a significant impact on the individual workers affected, as well as families and communities. The committee trusts that state governments do not make these decisions lightly, and carefully consider the consequences of such reforms.3 3. It is submitted that the Newman Government’s decision to cut thousands of public sector jobs was highly ill-considered given the devastating consequences it had not only for the individuals concerned and their families but also for the whole Queensland economy. Therefore, it is reasonable for the Select Committee, under section 1(g) of its terms of reference, to inquire into and report on the public sector workforce reduction policies and processes adopted by the Newman Government. 4. Upon the LNP Government’s election in March 2012, Queensland public servants had a legitimate expectation that their job security would be respected. This expectation arose from a number of pre-election statements which had been made by the LNP leader, Campbell Newman. Notable among these statements were the following: Aspiring premier Campbell Newman has told Queensland’s public servants they have “nothing to fear” from a Liberal National Party government as he officially took over as effective opposition leader …. Mr Newman told reporters today the public service should not be afraid of a government he led.4 1<http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Certain_Aspects_of_Queensland_Government_Administr ation/Certain_Aspects_Qld_Admin/Terms_of_Reference> 2 Report of the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee of the Australian Senate, “Conditions of Employment of State Public Sector Employees”, June 2013, para 2.31, p. 9. It is noted that the Australian Greens dissented from the report of the Committee (see pp. 13-15 of report). 3 Ibid, para 2.42, p. 11 (underline added) 4 <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/you-have-nothing-to-fear-newman-tells-public-service-20110404-1cv6x.html> 2 The Liberal National Party would not slash Queensland’s public sector, leader Campbell Newman said today. Mr Newman today repeated his criticisms of the state government’s plan to reduce the number of public servants by 3500 through a voluntary separation program. However, he also pledged not to cut staff numbers if an LNP government was elected. “I’m saying no cutbacks,” Mr Newman said.5 Mr Newman … flagged long-term reductions to the total size of the public service through non-replacement of some employees who leave their positions. “Well I’m saying that we do need to see over time through attrition a reduction in the overall headcount, but not on frontline services which actually in many cases need to go up,” he said. “So this has to be a managed process. We’ll work with the unions. “Every year thousands of people actually do depart voluntarily from the public service and the idea is to manage that; that’s an opportunity to actually not have pain, to not have cuts, but to actually change the shape and size of the organisation, so it then actually is affordable for all Queenslanders and we actually get the budget back into surplus.”6 5. Notably, Campbell Newman made these statements in the lead up to the 2012 State election all while the LNP was making claims about “… Labor’s $85 billion debt”.7 As the Attachment to this submission shows, the LNP was claiming this figure to be the amount of Queensland’s public debt not only prior to the election but also well before the findings of the LNP-appointed Commission of Audit which was headed by former Howard Government Treasurer Peter Costello. The other point which should be made is that the LNP’s claimed debt figure for Queensland of $85 billion is far from being unanimously accepted and has been repudiated by a number of analysts.8 6. Subsequent to the 2012 election, the LNP explicitly linked cutting of thousands of public sector jobs to paying off the claimed debt.9 However, at no time prior to the election did the LNP publicly identify the cutting of government workers’ jobs as being necessary to deal with the alleged $85 billion debt. It should also be noted that when Campbell Newman made his statements in 2011, the number of public servants 5 <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/public-servant-jobs-safe-newman-20110509-1ef05.html> 6 <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/higher-pay-in-lean-public-service-newman-pledges-20111205-1of5a.html> (underline added) 7 See Attachment to this submission – “CanDo Qld Contract with Queensland”, 2012 Queensland State Election 8 <http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/strong-choices-massive-lies,6532#.U4wcjXKaXL4.facebook>; <http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/here-we-joh-again-newmans-32-billion-budget-whopper--and- other-lnp-lies,6980>; <http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/queenslands-peter-costello-audit-trashed-by-experts/story-fndo1yus- 1226466757844>; <http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/costellos-queensland-audit-deceptive/story-e6freono-1226474743542#>; <http://www.uq.edu.au/rsmg/WP/Australian_Public_Policy/WPP13_1.pdf>; <https://dl.dropbox.com/u/29646818/QuigginAuditComm.pdf>; <http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/professor-john-quiggin-finds-fault-with-peter-costellos-commission-of-audit- report-findings/story-e6frerdf-1226639617267>; <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/qld-asset-sales-dont-stack-up-economist-20140422-372gp.html>; <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/asset-sales-divide-economists--but-they-are-united-in-saying-strong-choices-is- flawed-20140428-37e5v.html>; <https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29646818/QueenslandAssetSalesNotes1404.pdf> 9 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-19/newman3a-202c000-too-many-public-servants/4079460>; <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/newmans-100day-warning-state-must-do-more-with-less-20120702- 21cpb.html>; <http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/qld-govt-cuts-hurting-growth-report/story-e6frea7l- 1226627000231?from=public_rss>; <http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-politics/why-some-public-servants-must-go-20120629-2177p.html> 3 employed in Queensland was on the public record. He either made these statements in full knowledge of the number of employed public servants or should have informed himself of the exact number prior to making the statements if he had not already done so. In any case, Mr Newman was careful to avoid giving any indication prior to the election that would raise concerns for public servants that their job security might be threatened if the LNP were elected.10 7. It was only after the LNP was elected and Campbell Newman became Premier that he started to publicly claim that Queensland employed too many public servants. Indeed, his initial claim was that Queensland had “… 20,000 more public servants than it can afford”.11 Subsequently, the jobs of at least 14,000 public servants were cut.12 Since then the cuts to public sector jobs have continued despite Mr Newman promising in 2013 that there would be no more.13 Rumours are currently circulating the public service that if the LNP is re-elected in 2015, it will most likely instigate even further public sector job cuts. Statements such as in The Queensland Plan about the Government’s plans to further reduce “Bureaucracy and process”14 do nothing to allay these concerns. 8. The LNP has denied that it “sacked” any public servant.15 The position of the Premier, Campbell Newman, is that, “… employees deemed to be surplus to requirements had a choice about whether to be redeployed to another position or to take a generous voluntary redundancy payout”.16 In reality many government workers whose jobs were cut felt that they had no choice but to accept the “voluntary redundancy” rather than take their chances with the re-deployment option.17 This is because the Government was actively looking to reduce the size of the public service rather than move people to other positions.18 This is confirmed by statements made by senior Government Ministers about the Government’s plans for mass redundancies. For instance, the Treasurer described putting in place “… a voluntary redundancy process for 9,200 employees in order to right-size the Public Service”.19 The Premier made
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