United Voice News
Queensland's infrastructure at risk under Springborg's cost cutting proposal
During the second week of the Queensland election campaign, Mr Springborg has tried to back away from earlier statements about job losses in the Public Sector by saying the cuts will be achieved through attrition. As people leave, they will not be replaced.
This will lead to a major loss of services (a blow that regional Queensland, in particular, cannot afford) and a big hit to the economy.
12,000 fewer public sector employees a year - that's a big cut to expenditure in the community. 12,000 fewer people requiring child care .. fewer cleaners, hospitality workers, security officers needed across Queensland. That's also 12,000 fewer people spending in Queensland.
Mr Springborg also says he can't guarantee any wage maintenance for the public sector workers who do keep their jobs.
The economic flow-on would be large and once again, especially felt in regional Queensland.
For the public sector workers who do keep their jobs, there will be fewer of them, doing even more work and without any certainty about wage maintenance.
The reduction in public sector wages alone will not deliver the savings Mr Springborg is talking about. So where else will the savings be made? Scrapping public works? Selling off public assets? Contracting-out of school cleaners?
What are his plans for individual contracts in the private sector?
We just fought to remove WorkChoices, yet Mr Springborg is already talking about bringing back individual contracts.
Based on comments Mr Springborg made at a business breakfast this morning to business leaders eager to hear how they will profit from a Springborg government, more than 300 support staff in the education and health industry will lose their jobs - yet he says his plans will not affect front line staff. Teachers will not have access to much needed Teacher Aides, ultimately affecting the education of our children. Nurses and doctors will not have access to support staff (administration) and will be forced to perform this role themselves. The choice is yours.
He is only giving us part of his ideas - and so far it's not encouraging. Mr Springborg is the only one arguing that the way to deal with an economic slow-down, is for Queensland to move even slower still.
LHMU members under the last National Party government - we can't risk their return.
Gary Bullock
Branch Secretary
