Liberal leader proposes cutting thousands of public service jobs

The leader of Australia's federal Liberal Party is calling for major changes to public service jobs. Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced plans in 1951 to cut thousands of public servants to tackle inflation, which was a big issue at the time. Fast forward to today, and similar concerns about public service size are being raised again. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton recently criticized the current Albanese government for increasing the number of federal government employees by 36,000 since the last election in 2022. He has not specified how many jobs he would cut if elected but believes the public service should not exceed 200,000 workers. Recent budget figures show there are currently 209,150 federal employees. Dutton's figure of 36,000 comes from comparing staffing levels in the 2021-22 budget. The Albanese government argues that these increases were necessary due to the previous government hiring many external consultants and contractors at a high cost. An audit found that during 2021-22, the Australian government spent almost $21 billion on external workers while keeping the public service staff numbers low. This created a "shadow workforce" to meet growing demand for government services. Consequently, the Albanese government has added staff across various agencies, including defense and services for veterans. The current government claims that even with these staffing increases, public service is still smaller than it was relative to the population two decades ago. According to their estimates, there will still be 17,000 fewer public servants than needed based on past levels. Experts, including the head of the productivity commission, suggest that cutting public service jobs may not yield significant savings and could hinder economic reforms. The debate about the size and efficiency of the public service continues as the country faces economic challenges.