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Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says areas of the public service could \u201cgo immediately\u201d if the Coalition won the next federal election. Photo: Facebook.<\/p>\n
Canberra public servants again face the threat of the Coalition taking an axe to the public service after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was caught telling a closed-door event in Brisbane of his plans to overhaul the government workforce and get rid of wasteful bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
The speech to potential donors at a small-business forum had echoes of the disastrous policy that Peter Dutton took to the 2025 election, which was roundly rejected and which an internal party review found contributed to the massive Labor majority.<\/p>\n
It also threatens to derail the ACT Senate campaign of Nick Tyrrell and undermine the Canberra Liberals leader Mark Parton\u2019s efforts to dislodge the Barr Government.<\/p>\n
A recording of the speech was obtained by The Canberra Times, which reported that Mr Taylor said there were areas of the public service that could \u201cgo immediately\u201d if the Coalition won the next federal election, such as in housing and climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been fighting it all my frigging life, and I hate it with a passion \u2026 We have agencies across government right now that do not serve the Australian people the way they should. They serve themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Taylor accused the Albanese Government of \u201ccreeping socialism\u201d, warning that \u201cthis is how government gets bigger and bigger and bigger\u201d.<\/p>\n
In response to questions, Mr Taylor said the Coalition had to take a business-like approach to government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe net-zero bureaucracy \u2014 gone,\u201d Mr Taylor said. \u201cA housing bureaucracy that\u2019s not delivering another house \u2026 Gone. It\u2019s going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Liberal Senate candidate Nick Tyrrell says Labor is being hypocritical about public service cuts. Photo: Michelle Kroll.<\/p>\n
Mr Taylor said he had told \u201cevery shadow minister in every area of government\u201d to \u201drewrite your orders for every agency, whether it\u2019s the ATO [Australian Taxation Office], whether it\u2019s ASIC [Australian Securities and Investments Commission]\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number-one thing they need to focus on is the national interest, is having an economy that works for Australians, a country that works for Australians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if a bureaucrat is getting in the way of that, they shouldn\u2019t be there. It\u2019s that simple. This is a business-like approach to government that we desperately need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher said Mr Taylor\u2019s attacks on the public service confirmed that the Liberals would never change when it came to undermining and politicising the independence of the public service or the party\u2019s plans to sack thousands of government workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t view public servants as workers, they don\u2019t back evidence-based public policy and they will never back Canberra,\u201d she said. \u201dWe know that. We have seen it at every election and the next one will be no different.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Mr Tyrrell said people expected the government and its agencies to be match-fit for the challenges facing the country and the capital.<\/p>\n
He said the public service was important to Canberra, but Canberra was more than a public service town.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanberrans \u2014 public servants, small-business owners, all of us \u2014 are suffering under Labor\u2019s low-growth, high-taxing reality,\u201d Mr Tyrrell said.<\/p>\n
He said he already had been in to bat for Canberra \u2014 on the public service, on the CBD, on the stadium \u2014 and would continue to do so publicly and behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what Canberrans expect, and what they\u2019re not getting from Senator Gallagher,\u201d Mr Tyrrell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanberrans also deserve more than Senator Gallagher\u2019s tired, well-worn lines and scare campaigns about the APS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was Senator Gallagher and Labor that were exposed by the Independent Parliamentary Budget Office for having plans to cut 41,000 jobs<\/a> to achieve a budget surplus. I think Canberrans expect answers from Senator Gallagher, not just more deflection and finger-pointing.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Parton\u2019s office referred Region to his speech to the party\u2019s May Federal Council in Melbourne in which he successfully moved a motion calling on the federal Liberal Party to encourage the public service to pursue excellence and integrity, and to focus on its noble mission of serving the Australian people.<\/p>\n He told the council then that it was easy to demonise Canberra and the public service, but an effective government needed an effective public service.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the moment when you decide whether you want your party to go with either some One Nation-style, cheap political pointscoring, or to be a sensible, constructive party of government,\u201d Mr Parton said.<\/p>\n