The Queensland Government has announced it is committed to finding the ‘right size’ of public service after figures show that public servant numbers fell by almost 3000 full-time equivalents at the end of June.

 

Premier Campbell Newman said the Government’s recent payroll figures showed that there were 198,944 full-time equivalent employees for the fortnight ending 13 July, down from 201,934 FTEs on 29 June.

 

Mr Newman took the opportunity to hit out at the ‘shambolic’ nature of the state’s payroll and IT systems left in place by his labor predecessors.

 

“In addition, these figures include the regular reduction of casual teachers that occurs at the end of a school term, while there are significant fluctuations in health staff numbers from fortnight to fortnight – meaning the total numbers could increase again within weeks.” 

 

 

Mr Newman said his Government was committed to finding the correct size of public service for Queensland, striking a balance between affordability and maintenance of frontline service.

 

“The LNP Government wants to protect as many public sector jobs as possible, but the reality is the former Labor Government employed 20,000 more public servants than the people of Queensland can currently afford,” Mr Newman said.