Tuesday, 4 March 2025

Public sector review

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:59): (1461) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Premier. The action I seek is that you abandon your plans to cut thousands of public sector jobs. Up to 3000 public sector jobs cut – what on earth are you thinking? You are supposed to be the Labor Party. You were founded by and historically backed by our workers, our trade unions. Instead these cuts sound like they are coming straight out of Elon Musk’s DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. The CPSU is rightly appalled by these cuts, and unions from across this state have banded together to voice their opposition. These cuts risk compromising the services that Victorians rely on. It is essential that our public services are properly resourced to ensure they are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. Let us think for a moment about who our public sector workers are. They are teachers, they are nurses, they are rangers, they are fisheries officers, they are community service workers. Around one in 10 in the Victorian labour force is employed in our public sector. Imagine the fear and uncertainty that this announcement has caused for thousands of workers and their families. I understand you are trying to repair the budget and that more can be done to raise public money, so how about this – tax the banks. You want to raise over $16.5 billion in 10 years? Great – a 0.075 per cent quarterly bank levy will do just that. It would be a drop in the ocean for these massive corporations with the trillions of dollars in assets held by Australia’s largest banks. Meanwhile, wealth inequality is still growing and people are still struggling. People rely on our public service. We should be protecting and expanding it, not attacking it. It is shameful that this Labor government is compromising our state, putting the crucial jobs of 3000 Victorians on the chopping block. If you truly cannot see, Labor, why this is a betrayal of your values, maybe it is time to reassess whether your party name suits.