Inspired by Javier Milei: NSW MP Backs 50 Percent Cut to Public Service

Illustration picture shows Sydney Opera House taken during the Belgian Economic Mission to the Commonwealth of Australia, in Sydney, Monday 23 October 2023. Photo by BENOIT DOPPAGNE/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Libertarian Party MP John Ruddick would slash the public service by half overnight if his party came to power at the New South Wales (NSW) state election.

He would also consider providing incentives to public servants who find savings within the sector and help with cost-cutting.

The NSW Member of the Legislative Council backed the policy after travelling to Argentina for the inauguration of President Javier Milei with NSW Libertarian Party President Ross Cameron. They joined 300 international guests in Argentina for the prestigious event.

“It was a great honour to be there, and we will have to go back,” Mr. Ruddick said.

Mr. Ruddick received an invitation to Argentina after a speech in parliament that went viral on social media in Argentina and made the six o'clock news in Buenos Aires.

In the speech, he highlighted how socialism inflicted widespread poverty in what was one of the most prosperous countries at the turn of the 20th century and expressed his deep support for the new president.

“‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ is out. ‘Inspire me Argentina’ is in,” he told Parliament in November.

Since coming to office, Mr. Milei’s government has cut ministries and secretariats by 50 percent and 49 percent respectively because “there’s no money.“

When asked if any of Mr. Milei’s ideas could be implemented in Australia, Mr. Ruddick said, “Well, the whole lot.”

“Our party is proudly a Mileist party. So we agree with his entire agenda,” he told The Epoch Times.

Mr. Ruddick said the Libertarian Party would cut half of the departments in the NSW public service and aggressively cut costs.

“We would start in the premier’s office, we would talk about how can we cut down the stationary bill in the premier’s office. It would go out like a ripple effect, through the whole of government,” he said.

“We would even think about providing incentives to public servants saying, well, you’re at the coalface we'll give you a big bonus if you can tell us how we can cut costs in a significant way.”

Libertarian MP John Ruddick at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, on Nov. 23, 2021. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Meanwhile, the NSW Labor government, elected in March 2023, has boosted the pay of public sector workers since coming to office.

The government has also moved 7,000 teachers and school staff from temporary to permanent contracts and removed the wage cap on all public servants.

“We’ve smashed the wages cap and delivered the biggest pay rise to public sector workers in NSW in over a decade,” the government said 100 days after coming to office.

The Epoch Times has contacted the NSW premier’s office for comment.

Cut ‘Global Boiling’

One of the areas Mr. Ruddick would target is the climate change department, remarking that he would cut “absolutely everything” to do with global boiling.

He now calls climate change “global boiling” after the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used the phrase in a speech in July 2023.

At the time, the secretary general warned that “the era of global warming has ended” and “the era of global boiling has arrived.”

A Christmas decoration is seen amid smoke from a bushfire at West Wallsend in Newcastle, Australia, on Dec. 14, 2023. Roni Bintang/Getty Images

Since arriving in parliament, Mr. Ruddick noticed a lot of legislation brought through the parliament was linked to climate change.

“The thing that has surprised me the most about being here is that every piece of legislation is seen through the lens of global boiling, they are obsessed with it, both major parties,” he said.

Mr. Ruddick likened the “global boiling” push to a religious cult and said it is bound to “implode at some point” so all his party and other like-minded people could do was to “keep the pressure up.”

“The political figures love it because it makes them feel like the saviour that’s saving the world from this catastrophic apocalypse. The crony capitalists love it because it’s a great way to get money out of the government. The media loves it because they love hysteria,” he said.

“So we have all these powerful forces, who have got vested interests in global boiling being true. But a lot of people have believed things very, very sincerely throughout history, and they’ve been very, very wrong.”

New Zero Legislation Passes Parliament

The NSW Parliament recently passed the Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023 with “broad support.”

The legislation demands that NSW reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and 70 percent by 2035.

The new law also creates a Net Zero Commission that will monitor, review, and report on progress towards these targets.

NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy, and the Environment Penny Sharpe said the Bill provided the framework for the state to “embark on the essential journey to net zero emissions and better resilience to climate change.”

“Climate change is an environmental challenge but also poses an economic opportunity. This Bill provides certainty for industry, business, investors and all sectors of the New South Wales economy, and shows them they are not alone in responding to this challenge,” she said in November.