The Treasurer’s ideological obsession with punishing public sector workers – even in the midst of a pandemic – is not just unethical, but economically irresponsible, according to the Public Service
Association of NSW.
While the budget will use record debt to invest in projects and $25 dinner vouchers, NSW public sector workers – who have delivered so much for the state this year – continue to be left out in
the cold. After handing its workers a virtual pay freeze this year, the government puts a 1.5 per cent cap on public sector pay increases.
Public Service Association General Secretary Stewart Little said the budget was a sad reflection on the government’s irrational obsession with punishing the public sector.
“The best and fairest form of pandemic economic stimulus would be to give the modestly paid public servants working for NSW a reward for their extraordinary efforts this year,” Mr Little said.
“Public sector workers would use any extra money from the Government to invest in their local communities and small businesses. Better yet, the NSW Government might actually create new public sector jobs to assist the community and boost the economy.
“Instead this budget cuts public sector wages and continues to put pressure on public sector job numbers. This is woefully out of step with the economic reality.
“Not only are these cuts an insult to the workers who have been on the front line this year, they are also an act of economic vandalism.
“The Liberals came into government desperate to slash and punish the people who make our state run, and in nine years they’ve lost none of that initial enthusiasm.
“The Berejiklian government loves talking about infrastructure, but the truth is no government in history has done more to damage the human infrastructure of NSW than this one.
“Our state’s bushfire management resources are a classic example. The Government seems happy to throw some public money at shiny new trucks and equipment, but at the same time it continues to force our most experienced and knowledgeable fire experts out the door, never to return. It’s a dangerous approach that puts us all at risk.
“During 2020, it has been the everyday champions in the public sector who put their safety on the line to save our state from death and economic ruin. And even now Dominic Perrottet’s instinct is
to treat these essential workers like the enemy.”
