Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Public Service is once again under attack by the Liberals. The Liberals are proudly talking up the slashing of 20,000 Public Service positions in the APS. This contrasts with Labor's approach, which is to find savings through efficiencies, not to slash jobs. We have been very clear that efficiency dividends and efficiency measures do not target jobs. Labor has a proven record of finding savings through tightening rules on travel, through better use of teleconferencing, through smarter technology, and through identifying areas where efficiency and better management can reduce overheads. But the Liberals are driven by ideology and a complete disdain for the Public Service. They show no understanding of how the APS operates, or what the APS does.

The truth is that the public sector provides an incredibly diverse and invaluable range of services. There are over 250,000 people employed by the federal government in departments, agencies, statutory authorities, and government business entities. These public services help every Australian right from their birth through until the end of their life. It is public servants who deliver babies in public hospitals. They provide pre- and postnatal assistance to families. They immunise our children. They educate our children and assist those who have learning or other difficulties. They train us and teach us and educate us. They house us and oversee rental and even mortgage management, as well as building codes and environmental standards. They provide the police who protect us and the military who fight against threats from terrorism. It is the public servants who are there after natural disasters wreak havoc. They deliver payments to people in need, such as drought assistance or payments to those left destitute from cyclones or bushfires. They care for those with disabilities. They care for those with mental health needs. They care for the aged.

These are the people who the coalition, the Liberals, want to sack. The Liberals pedal a myth that the public sector is too big and massive and indiscriminate job cuts are needed. In fact, according to research by the Centre for Policy Development, the proportion of Australia's GDP spent on the public sector is 35 per cent, much less than is spent in France, Denmark, Germany, the UK, Canada and even New Zealand. But these facts are not what the Liberals want to hear. Randomly slashing public sector jobs will impact on all Australians either directly through loss of services or indirectly by destabilising the institutions that help every Australian.