LNP threat to 2000 CQ jobs
A ROCKHAMPTON Hospital technician spoke yesterday of the hurt he would suffer if the government decides his job has to be sacrificed to balance the books.
The worker, who does not wish to be named, fears he could be one of thousands of victims as Premier Campbell Newman and his team slash the state's wages bill.
Unions claim up to 2000 public sector jobs across Central Queensland are on the line and said yesterday 30,000 workers in Queensland could face dismissal.
Staff on temporary contracts will be the first to go.
"I have been here for a few years," the technician said.
"We are needed to service many areas in CQ. There are about three permanent and six temporary staff for 33 health facilities in the region."
Ashleigh Saunders, CQ organiser of the public sector workers' union Together, described the government's job cutting agenda as a gross breach of the promises the LNP made during the election campaign.
"Yet again regional Queenslanders are at the mercy of Treasury officials in Brisbane," she says.
Ms Saunders says staff from Disability Services and the Queensland Health Information Division will not have contracts renewed as a result of the program.
A spokesperson for the Premier says the LNP Government was clear in communicating its plan to control government spending, return the budget to surplus, revitalise frontline services and lower the cost of living for all Queenslanders.
"The Newman Government is committed to providing a public service which operates efficiently and meets the needs of Queenslanders right across the state," the spokesperson says.
"That needs to be done within the tight financial constraints inherited from the previous government."
A spokesperson for the Public Service Commissioner said decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis.
"Individual departments are working with the Public Service Commission to identify which contracted positions fall within the definition of frontline," the spokesperson says.
"Community members are assured that services to the public are not affected by this process."
