Opposition leader Peter Dutton has proposed eliminating thousands of government jobs.

In a move he compares to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting strategies in the US, Dutton has appointed Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as ‘shadow minister for government efficiency’.
Dutton and senior Coalition members argue that the 36,000 public servant roles created since 2022 under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are excessive. He has pledged to remove these positions under a future Coalition government. 

The Labor government warns this could lead to delays in essential services, including disability support and national security.

Finance and Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher has dismissed Dutton’s claim that these jobs are concentrated in Canberra, stating that most positions are outside the capital. 

She warns that slashing these roles would lead to longer waiting times for Centrelink calls, delayed disability and migration applications, and weakened tax enforcement.

“It’s easy to make a statement like that, it’s much harder to back it up in any detail, and even more difficult to deliver it,” Gallagher said.

The 36,000 new public servants include 4,000 in Services Australia, 4,000 in defence, home affairs, and the Australian Federal Police, and 3,600 in the National Disability Insurance Agency. Additional jobs have been created at the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and in agriculture and energy departments. 

The government argues that many of these roles replaced external contractors.

Dutton contends that cutting these positions would allow savings to be redirected towards cost-of-living relief and security. 

He has claimed that “the government’s taken a decision to employ 36,000 new public servants in Canberra at a cost of about $6 billion a year” and questioned their impact on Australians’ lives.

Labor disputes the figure, arguing that a majority of these workers are based outside Canberra, in locations such as Townsville, Geelong, and Tasmania. 

Gallagher has challenged Dutton to clarify which roles he intends to cut and how services would be maintained.

“You just can’t pretend that you can remove 20 per cent of the public service and not have an impact on people’s lives,” she said.

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