The Palaszczuk government has added 34,357 workers to the public sector since 2014-15,far more than double the 14,000 people sacked under Campbell Newman’s short-lived LNP government.
Employee expenses were expected to be $1.19 billion in 2021-22,or 4.5 per cent,higher than the previous year.
In July 2020,TreasurerCameron Dick announced public sector employment levels would remain stagnant for the next 12 months,except staff in frontline roles.
On Tuesday,he said the freeze would be extended for another 12 months.
“We’ve stabilised non-frontline at 20,001[positions],we’ve done what we said we were going to do,we’re going to keep that stable,and then the growth in public service is in frontline staff,” he said.
“We’ve done what we had to do and it hasn’t made any impact on service delivery.
“I read a few editorials in my time,in a few newspapers talking about the ‘bloated public service’,that there were too many public servants,and now we have a cap on it,so I think we’re getting the balance right for Queensland.”