Jobs to go in Queensland

PUBLIC servants are preparing to unleash industrial mayhem on the state next month to protest against job cuts by the Newman Government.
A vote taken by public sector union members yesterday backed a “significant industrial campaign” involving more than 30,000 people at 1000 work sites, including hospitals, prisons, schools and transport service centres.
I sympathise with the public servants (I have a daughter worried about her long term prospects) but really, what is Newman to do? The Beattie/Bligh governments have simply left us with a bloated public service as witnessed by the fact the Anna had to borrow money to pay their salaries. Newman has to claw back billions of dollars to even approach financially responsible levels and we are going to have to pay. It will hurt us and services will be downgraded until he has a grip on the problem. If the public servants wan’t to vent their spleen then they should go find Anna Bligh and tell her ‘thanks for screwing us over and having us live in a fools paradise’

Campbell Newman cleaning out the stables

ALMOST 70 staff within the state’s now-defunct Climate Change Office will be offered taxpayer-funded golden handshakes of $6500 or more to leave the public service. Two weeks after the Newman Government axed the office, headed by former premier Anna Bligh’s husband Greg Withers, its 67 staff members have been offered voluntary redundancy packages. A further 18 employees from the disbanded Sentencing Advisory Council and Queensland Workplace Rights Office have also been contacted. Staff will be offered their leave entitlements and a severance payment of two weeks’ pay per year of service, plus the added sweetener of an incentive payment worth $6500 or eight weeks’ pay, whichever is greater. Sounds like a positive step to me. Anything these people do can be covered by already existing departments. Now let’s look at Queensland Health, the third biggest employer in the country.

Qld sets high standards

During my commuting days I collected sufficient points to lose my licence over a period of a couple of years. I didn’t keep a tally of points in my head and subsequently, in hindsight, I think I drove whilst unlicensed. I had came to the attention of traffic police on two occasions within one week as I drove to Legacy with software problems running through my brain, I let the car run up to nearly 70 in a 60 zone on a steep hill. The second offence that week brought my points tally over the limit and from that time I was technically unlicensed. As I never received a notice saying so I simply wasn’t aware of the fact. Thank God I didn’t have a prang in that period. I paid no penalty other than the fines but I note the new Queensland Police Minister has resigned his portfolio over a similar incident and whereas he certainly broke the law and should pay some penalty I have difficulty getting worked up about it. The government are reviewing the way people are notified of license suspension but in no way is this offered as an excuse for Gibson’s error.
DAVID Gibson’s downfall could see the return of Queensland police notifying people in person that their driver’s licence has been suspended to avoid letters going astray. Premier Campbell Newman promised to review how the State Penalties Enforcement Registry delivers licence suspension notices, saying there was “great community concern” about the current process.
CanDO has demanded his resignation and thus has set the bar very high in Queensland as different from the Federal government who have left the bar on the ground in the case of Craig Thomson. Voters note this type of comparison.
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