From the AFR:
Federal cabinet ministers have been told that departments face another round of big staffing cuts, in a move that will blunt Labor’s attack on state Coalition governments for slashing public service numbers.
Cabinet ministers have been told the expenditure review committee of cabinet will impose a further “efficiency dividend” on the federal bureaucracy, in addition to the on-going 1.5 per cent dividend and an additional, one-off 2.5 percentage-point boost dividend imposed last November. That took the dividend – in effect, enforced spending cuts – in 2012-13 to 4 per cent.
However, the government is apparently looking for another name for the across-the-board cut to the federal bureaucracy, which is already enduring a reduction in staffing numbers by 4200 over a two-year period.
Individual departments are being told how many positions they will have to shed as part of the savings measure. It comes as the mid-year review of the budget once again is turned into a mini-budget to rein in costs to offset spending blowouts and revenue shortfalls to keep the surplus forecast this financial year on track.
We can add to this another freeze. From The Oz via Business Spectator:
Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced a freeze on federal grants worth about $2 billion annually as Labor scrambles to offset a sharp drop in federal revenues, according to The Australian
Cabinet ministers were told Monday to review all grants and funding not yet paid or contracted to identify possible cost savings, The Australian
The grants cover a wide swath of recipients, including community bodies and universities.
