@scottkuru: Don't get me wrong, of course need the government employing people to deliver essential services. But when the federal public service grows by roughly 23%, taxpayers should be able to see what they’re getting in return. If bringing work back in-house means lower consultant spending, better services and better value for taxpayers, then show us the results. Because at the same time Canberra has been expanding, Australian businesses have been dealing with higher costs, more regulation and enormous pressure just to stay profitable and keep employing people. The question isn’t whether we need public servants. It’s whether a bigger government is actually delivering a BETTER government. Do you think Australia’s public service has become too bloated, or is this exactly the investment government needed to make? Let me know in the comments. 👉

reppohc80 :

per capita, Howard had more public servants by the way

Pina Colada :

show us what has actually been delivered except for more red tape.

mwr516 :

Both sides of government are completely corrupt. We’re taxed at every: turn income tax, GST, CGT, payroll tax, land tax, fuel excise, stamp duty, tolls, levies and more. According to offical ATO data in 2022/2023 we paid 52c in the dollar!! Yet Australia is one of the world’s most resource rich nations, with enormous reserves of iron ore, gas, gold, lithium, coal and other minerals. So why aren’t Australians seeing greater national prosperity? Instead, government spending and debt continue to rise, immigration numbers remain at record levels, and ordinary Australians are carrying the burden. We have the largest government in the world per capita! It’s time to dismantle the political establishment, reduce waste, lower the tax burden and put Australians first.

dvc1138 :

So government workers don’t pay tax? Weird.

Beanie :

I'd prefer public servants over contractors and consultants anyday... Maybe show the actual $$$ being spent vs what's achieved.

SSVRW547 :

police, fire, Ambos, nurses, doctors etc are public servants. break down your stats without sensationing your post

sanookdee58 :

and 80% of new jobs created are private jobs

user479826 :

In fairness they cut almost all consultants too

tld8102 :

More people working, more taxes or money circulating rather than shipped offshore

Smith :

The redundancy bill is going to break us.

Evan_Stephen :

so, there are 2 sides to this coin. Labor hires more public servants, and other parties get contractors to fill positions. in some parts the full time employees are better but it get too bloated in some places.

Sarah the Jellyfish :

the previous government was artificially making the number of public servants appear lower by employing them via labour hire companies. This government is just turning those labour hire rolls into positions where staff can get the basics (like paid leave) This sort of thing actually saves the government money cause there is no middle man taking a 30%

Benji :

giving the same money to the private sector to solve the same issues is arguably worse.

hy.43 :

When they replace contractors with permanent staff, they’re only asking you to take a salary cut and triple the work load.

Andy Zhao :

more people that vote labor. good election strategy

mclensi :

When the economy all depends on government and markets are dead. We’ll have maximum inflation because no-one will be producing any goods or services.

pi33tr :

ZZZ :

Andrews quadrupled the bill in Victoria

chrisbtb1 :

i am

Samer Ghareeb393 :

CharmedNZ :

So how come 'we' are so under resourced that we can't possibly do what we're supposed?

ms8264728 :

With consultants, the govt paid a bit more than perm employees but stuff got done. Labor fired consultants saying they will do things in house and didn’t let them do anything and won’t do anything either… what a waste!!

user2973906048271 :

We used to pay a fortune to the big four PWC / Deliot ect and they were caught selling government policy to big business early, after charging us a bloody fortune for service. I say keep it all in house

Dscott :

from gemini: Yes, Australia's super-rich have gotten considerably richer over the past three years. Record number of 178 billionaires in 2026

Outcastxx :

It makes sense why are we surprised? There’s little incentive to build industry in Australia, and that’s a big part of the productivity problem. We export the raw materials that create wealth, then buy the finished products back cheaper than we can make them ourselves. It’s not rocket science.