NSW Labor will invest a further half a billion dollars into essential services, by reducing more Liberal waste through freezing senior executive pay.
A Minns Labor Government will implement a two year freeze on senior executive public pay rises, as well as reduce senior public servant positions by 15 per cent, through natural attrition.
The NSW Parliament under Labor will lead by example by imposing a two year pay freeze for our politicians.
The tough measures will save $500 million over the forward estimates and is part of Labor’s plan to invest in essential workers, frontline services and schools and hospitals without selling off essential assets like Sydney Water.
Under the Liberals: senior executives and pay blow out
Under Dominic Perrottet and the NSW Liberals and Nationals, SES positions in NSW have grown almost three times faster than the amount of nurses employed by the state government.
That’s despite the government promising before the election to cut spending for SES positions by 10 per cent each year, which they have failed.
The annual wages bill for senior executives across NSW government agencies, departments and state-owned corporations is around $1 billion a year, and many top bureaucrats now earn in excess of $600,000 – nearly six times the wage of the average nurse.
There are more than 3,600 Senior Executives across the NSW Government, earning on average $272,000.
That’s a 34 per cent blowout in the number of Senior Executive since the last term of government alone – all while the Liberal-National government forced a wage freeze on essential workers like paramedics, nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters.
NSW Labor has a fresh plan to revitalise our preschools, schools and TAFE. We’ll repair and rebuild our health system after 12 years of neglect. We’ll increase access to affordable and reliable transport and cap road tolls to reduce the burden on the family budget.
And we won’t privatise assets to pay for it.
Quotes attributable to Chris Minns, NSW Labor Leader:
“As interest rates go up again, family budgets are tightening, and the same goes for governments.
“That’s why I’m committing to a two year pay freeze on politicians pay and we’ll cut the excessive spending on senior bureaucrats.
“When you make tough decisions you can prioritise what’s important.
“I want every dollar available to go into fixing our schools and our hospitals and paying our paramedics, teachers, nurses, police officers and other frontline staff that we so desperately need.”
Quotes attributable to Daniel Mookhey, NSW Shadow Treasurer:
“Twelve years of this government has created a surplus of top bureaucrats and a deficit of essential workers.
“The salary we pay one of these top executives could have hired either two brand new teachers or two paramedics.
“The NSW Government already offers some of the best pay for senior executives across the public service and the wage freeze will still allow us to attract the best talent.”
CHRIS MINNS
NSW LABOR LEADER
DANIEL MOOKHEY MLC
NSW SHADOW TREASURER
