The cuts begin

From the AFR:

…Senator Wong said Labor had taken an “explicit decision” to target savings not job cuts and to maintain frontline services. As a result, she announced the “next phase” of government efficiencies would deliver $550 million in savings.

“The juxtaposition could not be clearer with the recently elected Government of Queensland,” Senator Wong told a conference of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in Canberra.

…Savings include:

• Nearly $30 million per year from across-the-board reductions in air travel spending, including restrictions on short business class flights;
• Over $60 million in 2012-13 from reducing the public service’s reliance on external consultants and contractors;
• $2 million per year from using only online recruitment advertising unless special conditions exist;
• About $6 million per year saved by publishing documents online only, reducing printing costs by approximately 5 per cent.

Well, the jobs will disappear somewhere else then. That is, in travel, at printers, in consultancies and in media. Is this a better approach than cutting public servants?

Much more of this to come.