After saying it would slash the number of federal public servants by 41,000 through forced redundancies and would make those remaining go back to working in the office five days a week, the Coalition has dropped both policies.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was leading the morning media rounds on April 7, to not only announce the backflip, but also apologise for ever having suggested the idea.
“We’ve made a mistake in relation to the policy,” Dutton told Channel Nine’s Today programme. “We apologise for that. And we’ve dealt with it.”
He also agreed with the suggestion that he was seeking “forgiveness” from female voters.
“We want to spend taxpayers’ money efficiently, but I think Labor’s been able to get away with twisting this into something it wasn’t.”
Labor had seized on the policy as an easy target, arguing for weeks that women especially benefit from flexible working arrangements.
The attack was clearly working, with polling showing the plan was unpopular with female voters, some of whom depend on the flexibility offered by working from home to look after their children.
Labor claimed the Coalition’s plan could force many workers into job-sharing arrangements, reducing their pay by as much as $740 per week, or $38,000 annually.
On March 5, Dutton walked it back by saying it would apply only to public servants working in Canberra.
But a day later, when the Coalition’s public service policy was formally released, all mention of it was gone.
Instead, it commits a Dutton government to “support[ing] flexible working arrangements for the public service, including working from home, by respecting existing flexible working arrangements and enshrining them in future agreements.
“There will be no mandated minimum number of days for public servants to work in the office.”
That is a dramatic backdown from its previous stance, when spokesperson for the public service Jane Hume said public servants had shown a “lack of respect for the work that went into earning the taxes they spend.”
But in a statement released on April 6 night, Hume said the party had “listened” and “understand that flexible work, including working from home, is part of getting the best out of any workforce.
“Many professional men and women in the Commonwealth public service are benefiting from flexible working arrangements, including working from home, which allow them to make valuable contributions to serving Australians.
“We know the importance of flexible work for many Australians and have always supported the private sector making its own decisions on flexible work arrangements.”
The pledge to cut numbers hasn’t been entirely abandoned, however—instead, it will happen over five years through a hiring freeze and natural attrition.
Military personnel and reserves are excluded from that figure, and the opposition also committed to not reducing frontline service delivery staff or people in national security positions.
