Ms LAWRIE - 2012-10-30
How many staff have lost their higher duties allowance and are expected to do more work for less pay?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. We are still in the process of assessing the damage left by the former government; this takes considerable time. We have been in office for approximately nine-and-a-half weeks and some positions will be lost, although not in the frontline. We have undertaken and are committed to ensuring that all frontline workers are kept in their positions, doing the work that is required. We have prioritised those positions and we feel that is an absolute …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is quite specific; how many staff have had their higher duty allowance axed and are required to do more work for less pay?
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, if you could come to the point.
Mrs LAMBLEY: This is a work in progress. We cannot provide exact numbers on how many positions have lost their higher duty component. All I can say is that any loss of positions, any loss of duties, is due to the mismanagement of the former government. If we had inherited a stronger financial position - if we had not inherited a fiscal imbalance to the extent where we are bordering on a government facing an unsustainable future then no one would be losing their job or facing a situation of cutbacks and savings across the board.
When the Leader of the Opposition asks a fairly smarmy question about higher duties, you need to reflect on what you have done over the past 11 years to put Territorians in such an uncomfortable, awful situation where they are facing cutbacks across the board.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. We are still in the process of assessing the damage left by the former government; this takes considerable time. We have been in office for approximately nine-and-a-half weeks and some positions will be lost, although not in the frontline. We have undertaken and are committed to ensuring that all frontline workers are kept in their positions, doing the work that is required. We have prioritised those positions and we feel that is an absolute …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is quite specific; how many staff have had their higher duty allowance axed and are required to do more work for less pay?
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, if you could come to the point.
Mrs LAMBLEY: This is a work in progress. We cannot provide exact numbers on how many positions have lost their higher duty component. All I can say is that any loss of positions, any loss of duties, is due to the mismanagement of the former government. If we had inherited a stronger financial position - if we had not inherited a fiscal imbalance to the extent where we are bordering on a government facing an unsustainable future then no one would be losing their job or facing a situation of cutbacks and savings across the board.
When the Leader of the Opposition asks a fairly smarmy question about higher duties, you need to reflect on what you have done over the past 11 years to put Territorians in such an uncomfortable, awful situation where they are facing cutbacks across the board.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016