Labor accused of “scare campaign” over Gippsland jobs

State Nationals Leader and Gippsland South MP, Danny O’Brien, has strongly rejected claims that the Liberals and Nationals would cut more than 230 public service jobs from Gippsland.

It comes after the Labor Government issued a media release on Friday, May 29, claiming that the Coalition’s plan to “slash 1 in 7 public servants” would directly impact regional services.

Labor claimed new analysis showed that at least 1500 public sector workers across regional Victoria would be “canned”, including more than 230 in Gippsland, but Mr O’Brien has labelled the accusation a “desperate scare campaign.”

Minister for Regional Development Michaela Settle said the plan would hit every sector in regional Victoria.

“These Liberal and National cuts will hit every sector in regional Victoria, including critical biosecurity work that keeps our agricultural sector safe, competitive, and productive,” Ms Settle said.

“Jess Wilson and Danny O’Brien’s plan means one thing, cuts to regional hospitals, schools and police, and thousands of regional Victorians out of work.”

Labor also took a rather creative swipe at the Nationals in particular, as the government did their best Dr. Seuss impression to state the Nationals had “no bite, no fight, they’re just Liberal lite,” referring to their backing of the Liberal policy.

The colourful rhyme-based attack almost read more like a campaign slogan than a usual government statement.

But Mr O’Brien said the Coalition’s policy will back office public servants.

“The Liberals and Nationals will institute a hiring freeze on back office public servants. This will not impact frontline staff at all, and no one who has a job now will lose it, including in Gippsland,” said Mr O’Brien.

“Labor knows this, but this is a desperate scare campaign from a lazy government that gave up on regional Victoria long ago.”

Mr O’Brien said Labor’s record on regional infrastructure wasn’t exactly perfect, and showed that it had neglected regional communities.

He said the government was spending “just 12 per cent of infrastructure investment in the regions,” despite regional Victoria accounting for 25 per cent of the state’s population.

Mr O’Brien also questioned the basis of Labor’s claims.

“This information is from a credible source, the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, unlike Labor’s so-called ‘analysis’ that cites ‘independent economists’ but doesn’t even name them,” he said.

“This would be laughable if we didn’t already know Labor has no idea of economics or how to manage the budget.”