$700m in cuts to health, recruitment freeze, but Ministerial advisor numbers increase

In the same week that Eric Abetz announced $700 million worth of cuts to Tasmania’s health system, new information has shown the Liberals have expanded their own army of Ministerial advisors.

A comparison of the last two Routine Disclosures of Ministerial spending show that since Eric Abetz announced his initial target of cutting 2,800 public service in November last year, the Government has grown its Ministerial staffing numbers.

There is a recruitment freeze on new staff across the public sector. Why doesn’t it apply to the army of Liberal spin doctors?

Meanwhile Eric Abetz has taken a chainsaw to Tasmania’s health system, with $700 million worth of cuts laid out in black and white in the budget set to make the already dire situation in our hospitals and ambulances even worse¹.

Premier Rockliff has put Eric Abetz in charge of slashing jobs and essential services to pay for 13 years of Liberal waste, but apparently the rules don’t apply to themselves.

The Premier and Mr Abetz must explain why its ok to cut $700 million from Tasmania’s health system, but they are growing, not cutting their own army of spin doctors.