On the eve of the federal election, the Coalition has updated its stance on reducing the size of the public service, suggesting that employees may be relocated to regional areas to fulfill specific needs. As more than 7.5 million people have already voted in advance, and with the release of Peter Dutton’s policy-filled agenda, voters may be expecting clearer details about the Liberal-National government’s strategies for managing the nation’s public service.
A new development in the Coalition’s policy was announced by Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor during the final pleas to voters. Taylor confirmed that a Dutton government would focus its cutbacks on positions in Canberra, relocating employees as necessary to support regional areas and frontline services. While defending this plan, Taylor insisted that natural workforce reduction would occur “everywhere” and that the government would “migrate” people around to fulfill the requirements of regional areas while maintaining their numbers there.
The budget details, released by Taylor, show a proposal to cut the federal workforce by 41,000 positions over five years, with a goal of saving $17.2 billion. These cuts are set to affect positions in Canberra and will be enacted through a hiring freeze and allowing natural attrition to occur, leaving 5,000 job openings empty. The Coalition has indicated that defence, security, and “frontline services” jobs will be exempt from these cuts.
DUTTON initially pledged to immediately reverse all 41,000 job hires but had to retract this commitment due to public backlash. The official number for the size of the bureaucracy is disputed between Labor and the Coalition, with Labor citing a figure of 110,000 using data inclusive of Defence personnel, while the government uses a figure of about 70,000.
The notion of moving jobs away from Canberra harks back to the decentralization efforts of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, which included relocating public service jobs to regional areas. The Coalition is now faced with questions about whether such moves would be part of their current plans and how services in major cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide would be maintained.
THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA suggests that the Coalition’s aim to reduce public service without trimming frontline, defence, and national security jobs might not be feasible, given that the majority of staff leaving each year are from these areas. P.M. Anthony Albanese has invoked the example of Queensland’s premier Campbell Newman, whose government’s dismissal of around 14,000 public servants is still seen as problematic by voters.
Angus Taylor asserts that the Coalition’s plans were clear from the start as the party makes a final push for voter support.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/02/coalition-public-servants-job-cuts-policy-move-regional
