Latest NSW gov't sackings could pass 10,000
A leaked document on the 10,000 public sector jobs flagged for cuts in last month's NSW budget may have been understating the sackings to come.
The June 12 email from a NSW Treasury official said “there is no floor or cap on redundancies”. The government on July 3 conceded the numbers were not capped, and there were no guarantees that more jobs would not be lost.
The 10,000-plus job cuts add to 5000 jobs axed in September.
Treasury documents indicate 3600 hospital jobs and 2400 school and TAFE staff will be axed.
The O'Farrell government said frontline services won't be affected. But Labor's John Robertson said: “If you cut 6000 jobs across health and education you are impacting frontline services.”
Funding for language and literacy programs for the disadvantaged has been slashed by more than half.
LNP slashes Queensland social programs
Queensland's Liberal-National government has axed funding for 67 government services, including programs for Aboriginal people, women, LGBTI people and even deaf children.
A further 24 programs have three months, from July to September, until funding is also cut. Fifty-nine other projects will be reviewed and could lose funding. This leaves ongoing funding to just 119 projects.
Organisations hit by Premier Campbell Newman's cuts include Deaf Children Australia, Diabetes Australia and the Red Cross. Brain tumor and chronic kidney disease research is being defunded.
Programs run by the Indigenous Wellbeing Centre, the Indigenous Alcohol Diversion Program, Indigenous health training and training for Indigenous child health workers will also be axed.
Multiple programs run by Family Planning Queensland are being cut, including women's reproductive health services, at a time when abortion rights have already faced serious attack in the state.
A range of LGBTI projects run by the Queensland Association For Healthy Communities, HIV/AIDS and sexual health training for youth workers and World AIDS Day activities will also go.
Water cuts could put us in the poo
Sydney and Illawarra water workers rallied on July 5 against huge job cuts, which Australian Services Union state secretary Sally McManus said are "putting Sydney's water and environmental standards at risk".
One thousand workers took part in a stoppage in Sydney and 100 held a protest in Wollongong.
Three hundred water workers have lost their jobs already, with drastic consequences. McManus told AAP of “cases where sewage has been leaking through a house for hours and hasn't been fixed because we don't have the staff to fix it”.
McManus also warned that an understaffed water service unable to fix broken pipes quickly could result in sewage seeping into streams and other water courses.