Tas public sector job cuts: Treasurer reveals timetable for losses as pay freeze debate flagged
The bulk of public sector job cuts in Tasmania will occur over the next two years, the Treasurer has revealed.
Peter Gutwein announced in last week's state budget that 700 positions would be axed over the next four years.
He has now revealed 500 jobs will be culled in the next two years.
The timetable for the cuts comes as the Government moves to table legislation to freeze public sector pay for a year.
The Treasurer has argued the freeze and a cap on subsequent pay rises at 2 per cent will save 800 public service jobs.
Labor and the Greens have already indicated they would not support the pay freeze bill.
Opposition Leader Bryan Green told Parliament the number of job losses would end up being much higher.
"The real number of people you will sack is 1,172," he said.
Mr Gutwein responded that the measures would not be necessary had Labor done a better job of managing state finances when in government.
"Had they delivered the budget outcomes they set for themselves, the budget would have been on a sustainable footing, if they'd been able to deliver what they said they would," he said.
"The Government believes that there are 500 public servants and their families who would be much better off with a pay pause than no pay at all.
"The legislation will apply a fixed 12-month pause from the next scheduled pay rise from the various agreements and instruments under which Crown employees are employed."
Too much of Tasmania locked up, says Treasurer
Mr Gutwein told a business breakfast the state was operating under a disability because more than 50 per cent of its land mass was locked up.
He used the event organised by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) to talk up his budget.
He said Australia's founding fathers, such as Andrew Inglis Clark, would never have envisioned a state having less than half its land mass available to generate economic income.
Mr Gutwein also criticised his Liberal counterparts interstate over their claims that Tasmania had to be propped up by them.
It was revealed in the state budget that Tasmania's net GST take was up by 6 per cent on last year, at a record $1.9 billion.
Several states including Western Australia want the method for GST revenue distribution changed so those who contribute more get to keep more.
"When you look at the bleating that goes on from say, West Australia, which has less than 20 per cent of its land mass locked up, up and down the eastern seaboard where they have between 10 and 15 per cent locked up, the disability that we operate under in Tasmania... we can only use roughly half of our state," Mr Gutwein told business leaders.
Mr Gutwein said the federation white paper, which will look at GST distribution, would be an opportunity for Tasmania to express the challenges it faces.
Last week, he forecast a net operating deficit of $286 million this year, with the state not set to return to surplus for six years.
