Newman & Nicholls must clarify the situation - is it 2754 or 4140?

Published: 11 September 2012

Government embarrassed by conflicting job loss figures at Queensland Health

The Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) has called on the premier, Campbell Newman, and treasurer, Tim Nicholls, to immediately come clean on the actual position/job loss number they are imposing on Queensland’s public hospital and community health system.

The QNU is seeking urgent clarification of the real number, after the State Government was embarrassed this afternoon by confusing budget figures. The Queensland Health job loss number in the main budget papers, released this afternoon, was much higher than the figure provided during a flurry of much-anticipated government media announcements and interviews last Friday, 7 September.

On Friday the State Government announced that 2754 jobs, including more than 1500 in the 17 frontline hospital districts, are to go at Queensland Health.

Just four days later, the State Government’s 2012-13 budget papers indicate there will be 4140 full-time-equivalent redundancies at Queensland Health.

QNU secretary, Beth Mohle, said numerous interviews by State treasurer, Tim Nicholls, this afternoon and this evening have done little to clarify to situation.

“With the premier, Campbell Newman, the rhetoric has recently gone from frontline ‘jobs’ to frontline ‘services’. Now the treasurer is trying to make a distinction between employed people and vacant positions. In terms of safe patient care, safe nursing and midwifery workloads and providing the right professional support and clinical checks and balances, this verbal gymnastics by the premier and treasurer is about as silly and dangerous as it gets.

“Mr Newman and Mr Nicholls must clarify the situation immediately and properly explain the difference between Friday’s figure and today’s,” Ms Mohle said.

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