The Liberal Government is committed to fixing the Budget mess left behind by Labor and the Greens.
We have a Plan and that Plan is the Budget. Part of our Plan was to implement a pay freeze which would save 500 jobs and provide $50 million in savings.
While Labor continues to have no clear position on the pay freeze, it is pleasing to see unions are working to put a pay freeze proposal to the Government.
Yesterday, union members on the North West Coast voted unanimously in support of a pay freeze, with similar meetings to be held in Hobart and Launceston.
We said the pay freeze has significant community support and there is no doubt that there is also significant support from the public service.
If the unions are prepared to put forward a pay freeze that is genuine and without condition, we will accept those savings and use them to offset the need for more job losses.
To be clear, anything shorter than an 18 month pay freeze that delivers less than the $50 million in savings we need will result in some jobs still needing to go.
We are getting on with the job of fixing the Budget mess and we look forward to seeing the unions’ proposal.
Peter Gutwein, Treasurer
