By Peter Anderson
Victoria's main public service union, the SPSF Victoria (State Public Services Federation), has called Jeff Kennett's job creation scheme a hoax and says that the Liberal Party already knows the scheme is certain to fail.
Kennett said the Liberal Party would create 40,000 jobs in Victoria, but the announcement came only a week after he threatened 30,000 jobs would be cut from public sector services, according to SPSF Victoria general president Kay McVey.
The union also says the Labor government has had only limited success with schemes to induce employers to hire more staff through concessions more generous than those the Liberal Party plans.
For example, the Labor government's traineeship scheme offers a total of $7000 to employers. But applications from the private sector for the scheme fell well below the targeted 5000 traineeships in 12 months.
The Liberals have claimed they will create vastly more jobs with even less expenditure (a subsidy of about $2500 per job paid to employers), said McVey. More appropriate and effective would be to "fund community and public services which are needed in a recession", she said.