I’m trying to save your jobs, Campbell Newman tells public servants


NEWS:QTU President Kevin Bates speaks at the Teachers’ Union protest outside parliament house.







TWO days after the Premier told Parliament there are 20,000 more public servants than the State can afford, Campbell Newman has emailed his entire workforce today to assure them he is trying to save their jobs.


The “Message from the Premier” comes amid growing unrest among public sector unions unhappy with government pay offers, culminating in yesterday’s noisy teachers’ rally.

Senior public servants have described the message as almost unprecedented, and an indication the Premier is “playing catch-up”.


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“It’s a sign of desperation,” said one public servant.

“He’s finally realising it is probably a good idea to talk to the workforce.”

The Premier’s letter, forwarded by Public Service Commission Chief Executive Brett Heyward, directs public servants to the interim Commission of Audit report as revealing “the real state of Queensland’s finances”.

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Campbell Newman


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“Despite the worrying financial position, I want to assure you that my Government will do everything it can to protect permanent jobs in the public service,” reads the Premier’s message.

“These are tough times and you have my word that we will fight to save every job we can.”

Mr Newman notes that “already we have found $186.5 million in savings but we need to find a lot more”.

“We need your help to protect permanent jobs in the Public Service by finding savings and new, lower cost ways of delivering services for Queenslanders,” reads the message.

The core public service representing 60,000 workers, teachers, firefighters, medical officers, nurses and midwives are among those expected to reject pay offers which strip away conditions in return for modest pay rises.

Secretary of public sector union Together Alex Scott said the letter would provide no comfort to public servants, and labelled the correspondence “an unprecedented stage of what has become a farce in relation to the audit commission”.

“The approach by the Premier to try and write directly to all public servants we think will inflame the situation, but it’s clearly an indication of the fear that’s being generated unduly within the public service in an attempt to try and undermine the collective bargaining process for teachers, for public servants and for another public sector workers,” he said

“Normally there is an element of spin rather than substance in any of these matters.

“The letter makes no promises at all, and I think that’s what the issues are, of substance.”

Mr Scott said unions were this morning briefed by the Treasurer on the commission of audit and said the process did not take in to account spending and savings promises made by the LNP before the election.

He added the Government was using the document to bully public servants during enterprise bargaining agreements.

“The audit commission is a report based on what Andrew Fraser might have done had he remained treasurer, not a report in relation to how the LNP will address the challenges facing the public sector,” he said.

“Clearly the issuing of the offer to public servants within hours of the release of the audit commission is an attempt to intimidate and bully public servants in to taking a wage cut.

“He’s now trying to use the audit commission as a process of intimidating public sector workers in to thinking they have a choice between a fair and reasonable wage outcome and their jobs.”

Mr Scott said union members would fight “tooth and nail” for a fair outcome during wage negotiations.

“What we need is for the Premier to step up and start talking about the challenges and the solutions for the challenges to the public sector rather than making short political points in relation to scaring people about job losses as part of an enterprise bargaining process and then spending the next day trying to walk back from those statements,” he said.

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