The Treasurer needs to stop with his threats to sack 500 additional public sector workers should the Parliament reject the Liberal government’s pay freeze, or admit that forced redundancies will be used, said Greens Leader and Treasury spokesperson Kim Booth MP.
“It is clear that the Liberals’ do have a Plan B, which is to try and blackmail and threaten MPs and public sector workers, into accepting the false dichotomy that it is either a pay freeze or 500 more jobs cut,” Mr Booth said.
“Yet the Treasurer could not explain how he could follow through with his threat to sack a further 500 workers, additional to the 700 jobs his budget is already predicated upon, without breaking the Liberals’ election promise that there will be no forced redundancies.”
“Mr Gutwein needs to explain how he intends to cull a further 500 workers, additional to the 700 already to go, should there be no wage freeze, without resorting to forced redundancies.”
“It has become abundantly clear through the lack of answers over this painful week of Budget Estimates Shutdown sessions that the government has no plan when it comes to executing its flagged 700 jobs to go, so it is obvious that to slash even more jobs the Liberals will have to resort to forced redundancies.”
“Or, if they are going to keep their election commitment of no forced redundancies, they should stop with the bullying and threats that more jobs will go if their wage freeze is rejected by the Parliament,” Mr Booth said.