The coalition said it would require civil servants to be in the office five days a week, but Peter Dutton admitted the policy was “mistake.”
After saying that forced redundancy would cut the number of federal civil servants to 41,000, and that the rest would return to working in the office five days a week, the coalition removed both policies.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton led the Morning Media Round on April 7, apologising for not only announcing a backflip, but also proposing the idea.
“We made mistakes in relation to policy,” Dutton told Channel Nine’s Today Program. “We apologise for that, and we dealt with it.”
He also agreed to the proposal that he wanted female voters to “forgiveness.”
“We want to spend taxpayer money efficiently, but I think Labour could have escaped by twisting this into something that isn’t.”
Labour had seized the policy as a simple target, and for weeks he argued that women would benefit particularly from flexible work arrangements.
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The attack is clearly working, indicating that the vote is not popular with female voters, partly relying on the flexibility provided by working from home and caring for children.
Labour claimed that the coalition’s plan could force many workers to settle their duties, cutting $740 a year, or $38,000 a year.
On March 5th, Dutton walked back through it, saying it only applies to civil servants working in Canberra.
But a day later, when the Union’s Public Service Policy was officially made public, all mentions of it were gone.
Instead, we will respect existing flexible labor agreements and commit to the Dutton government to support flexible labor agreements for public services, including work from home, by ensuring them in future contracts.
“There is no mandatory minimum number of days for civil servants to work in the office.”
This is a dramatic backdown from an earlier stance when public services spokesman Jane Hume said that civil servants showed “the lack of respect for the work that ended up earning the tax they spend.”
However, in a statement released on the night of April 6, Hume said the party “listened” and “understands that flexible work, including from home, is part of making the most of the workforce.
“Many professional men and women at Commonwealth Public Service benefit from flexible labor agreements, including working from home.
“We know the importance of flexible work for many Australians and have always supported the private sector making their own decisions about flexible work arrangements.”
However, the pledge to cut numbers has not been completely abandoned, but it will take place over five years due to job freezes and natural attrition.
Military personnel and reserves have been excluded from those figures, and the opposition has also committed not to reduce frontline service provider staff or people in national security positions.
