Latest news with #publicservants
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Andrew Bragg says Coalition will support WFH, backing ‘agency' for workers
A Liberal frontbencher has backflipped on working from home arrangements, saying they 'could be productive' and vowing the Coalition's support for 'individual liberty' and the 'agency' of workers. The opposition was forced mid-election campaign to dump its plagued policy to force public servants back to the office after a savage backlash. Speaking to 3AW on Tuesday, Coalition productivity and deregulation spokesman Andrew Bragg spruiked the benefits of hybrid working, saying it was a position he also held 'during the campaign'. He also referenced a recent Productivity Commission report which said a mix of working from home and office arrangements helped increase productivity and job satisfaction. 'In fact, most of the evidence comes down to support the proposition that working from home on a hybrid basis actually is good for people, good for the economy,' he said. 'As I say, we're into individual agency, we want to help families, we want to help individuals, and this is, in many cases, the best outcome for people.' Senator Bragg said there were benefits to the hybrid mode. 'There's a big benefit in getting around the water-cooler and having a debate or a discussion about some challenges the business is trying to solve, but when people want to do some deep work, deep thinking, deep reading, often that is better done at home, not in an open plan office,' he said. Speaking about his other portfolio overseeing housing and homelessness, Senator Bragg also said the government should prioritise repurposing office building into housing. 'We have a massive housing problem under this government. And, I would say that where a building can be repurposed into housing, that should be a top priority,' he said. According to the Property Council of Australia, vacancy rates across the CBD have remained steady between 13.6 to 13.7 per cent over the six months to January 2025. Non-CBD office vacancy rate stayed at 17.2 per cent.
Mail & Guardian
22-05-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Public sector wage bill must be contained – but not by DOGE methods
Public sector wage bill 2023 The government of national unity (GNU) has experienced major ructions since the country's 2025 budget was aborted in February. Although the budget deadlock was about VAT, it is a symptom of a bigger problem affecting the fiscal sustainability of the country's public finances. This has exposed rifts between political parties over how best to increase revenue and cut expenditure. One of the biggest contributors to the government's precarious fiscal position is what the state pays public servants. The public sector compensation budget, or 'wage bill', has increased pressure on the government's available revenues. This has been constrained by sluggish economic growth and significant debt-servicing costs. According to the treasury, the wage bill has nearly doubled as a share of GDP from 1994 to 2024. It might be tempting to try to control the wage bill by cutting the public sector workforce in the absence of realistic short-term prospects for significantly increasing revenue. But this comes with considerable risks and disruption to service delivery capacity, which must be mitigated if not avoided entirely by affordability concerns. As the finance minister prepares to present a revised budget this week, the GNU must plan boldly in the medium-term to alleviate the fiscal stress caused by the wage bill. But it should not pursue indiscriminate cuts in core service areas and instead focus on eliminating wasteful and superfluous expenditure that has created structural imbalances in the public sector workforce. Recent events in Washington offer lessons about the dangers of acting boldly but irresponsibly when managing the cost of the public sector. Under the department of government efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration has set about firing tens of thousands of workers. The highly controversial actions have drawn wide criticism. The US federal bureaucracy has, for years, endured successive rounds of efficiency and performance reforms under various presidents. The broad mission of DOGE is therefore not unusual. What is unusual is the increasingly malicious and disparaging image of a wasteful bureaucracy that the Trump presidencies have created. The aggressive methods employed by DOGE, which has instituted deep cuts across the US federal government workforce, spending programmes and entire agencies, have caused massive disruption in the delivery of services, and unleashed panic and fear among civil servants. Nevertheless, there are also pockets of bi-partisan support for the general principle of reducing waste, inefficiency and streamlining the structure of government. Does the underlying reform spirit in Washington, as opposed to its harmful methods, offer any lessons to South Africa in controlling its public sector wage bill? Trend Salary increases have been the biggest driver of payroll costs compared to increasing the total number of public servants. Although this has disproportionately benefited public servants in core service areas, like medical and criminal justice professionals and educators, it hasn't improved the overall capacity of these key frontline professionals, whose total numbers have stagnated in recent years and failed to keep up with the demand for the essential services that they provide. This problem was laid bare during acrimonious negotiations between public sector unions and government during Adopting a bold approach to alleviating the pressure of the wage bill can be implemented in ways that don't have to compromise the public sector's capacity to deliver essential services. This could include: Re-allocating spending which has fuelled growth in the number of workers in non-core areas of the public sector. This includes public entities and state-owned companies, as well as ministerial office staff and central government personnel working in policy planning, oversight and regulation Reducing excessive spending and reliance on outside consultants. This has been More aggressively (but creatively) reducing the number of government departments and public entities and forcing departments to rationalise their internal structures. There is already broad multi-party support behind cutting the size of government — President Cyril Ramaphosa But there may be little appetite in a more politically diverse GNU to embark on bold cuts to the machinery of government. Conversely, the GNU might provide political adversaries with a unique co-governing platform to finally reconcile their differences over the size of the state. Efforts to control the public sector wage bill should not be driven by an overzealous, indiscriminate and pernicious cutting of 'wasteful' bureaucrats, as the recent experience of DOGE has shown. Instead, the GNU should be seized by the magnitude of the fiscal crisis to act boldly but responsibly to create a more constructive pathway to balance affordability with capacity. VinothanNaidoo is an associate professor in public policy and administration at the University of Cape Town.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Subordinates resisting the president is not patriotic
Guest columnist David Skidmore's May 4 piece represents a voter's viewpoint that is the polar opposite of mine. Initially he praises the work of those who opposed Donald Trump's first presidency. That opposition included public servants. Unfortunately, he said that "public servants did their jobs," when the exact opposite is true. After Trump's 2016 presidential victory, many federal government employees took it upon themselves to undermine Trump and his agenda. How dare they. In an election, we vote for the political candidate, not the government's civil servants. I always assumed that the employees of any business knew that their position on the ladder of importance wasn't such that they could just do as they pleased. Is Skidmore praising the janitor who won't sweep the floor because he doesn't like the new boss? Then Skidmore goes on to say that "Trump is attacking universities, the media, elite law firms, and the Federal Reserve." The key word here is "elite." What is the current definition of the word "elite"? 'A group of the finest and most powerful people,' sure, but does it now include "who know what is best for the rest of the world's knuckleheads"? To be honest, I also believe I know what's best for the world; does Skidmore want to live under my rules? In all honesty, the most aggravating part of Skidmore's message is his neglect to honestly show us the alternative. A Democratic presidential candidate who is entering or already in a state of dementia. A Squad that represents a small minority of United States citizens. A social agenda that would embarrass my grandparents. The Democratic Party claims to be the party of the working people. Let's be honest, the Democratic Party is the party of the non-working people, and those who still wear rose-tinted glasses. Donald C Parsons, Sioux City Make no mistake about Iowa's Republicans and their purpose in changing the state's Medicaid program. While they claim to seek to eliminate unqualified recipients and encourage people to work, there are not enough of those people in the program to reach their goal of $50 million in savings (which they intend to fork over to their wealthy supporters). In fact, they are not at all concerned with who gets their health care eliminated, as long as it amounts to a significant number. The application process will become complicated, difficult, and endlessly repetitive on purpose. Iowans who would qualify will fall by the wayside in frustration. They not only know that, they are counting on it. Even worse, some of them seem to think there is no good reason a young woman in a wheelchair can't get a job detasseling corn. Robert Runge, Des Moines As a retired school administrator, I would often remind my colleagues, and myself, that our students were always watching us and to be mindful of that so that we could continue to set an example that they might find worthy of following. After we introduced the six pillars of character (i.e., trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship) from Character Counts, we were better able to demonstrate these core values through our communication with students, families, and each other. As time has passed, we still see some individuals and groups adhere to these values; yet, sadly, some appear to be just going through the motions of repeating these values or words without incorporating them into their daily behavior on a consistent basis. One only has to read or listen to others about disagreements between groups or individuals, whether it is at the national, state, county, city, or school levels, or maybe even a family member or neighbor, to see the pillars of character appear to be unsteady as we continue to name call or point fingers at each other claiming I'm right and you're not with no end in sight. It does not have to be this way for us as adults and I was a recent witness to this. On April 25 people came from far and wide to celebrate the life of Jay Byers at his memorial service held at a packed Hoyt Sherman Place, which in case you missed it, was so thoughtfully described by Courtney Crowder's piece in the Register on April 26. If you had not had the opportunity to know Jay, he seemed like he was everywhere, always helping and spreading that special sauce with others to move onward. During the service, speaker after speaker fought back tears, while sharing stories of Jay throughout his years which many found amusing, but calming in that Jay never gave up on pursuing what was needed to make central Iowa the best it could be. When you would see Jay, conversations started out by him checking out how you were doing before the conversation turned to family. To say he was a proud husband and father would be an understatement, especially as his portrait on stage looked on smiling as both of his daughters shared, in their own way, what Dad meant to them. The response from the audience to these two examples reinforced the pillars as they continued to stand strong and even grow! For you see, for approximately 100 minutes that morning, those in the audience appeared to be on the same page. No accusations, no finger pointing, or questioning the honesty or integrity of another. In the days since, it appears sadly that we are falling back into a routine of I'm right and you're not. That morning though, the adults in attendance acted like we were one as we all shared that secret sauce that Jay was so willing to share. It's too bad the students were not able to watch, as it would have given them and us some hope. I miss my friend, but I will never forget him! Onward! Greg Robinson, Urbandale Lutheran Services in Iowa is welcoming an Afrikaner family, continuing its humanitarian mission despite refugee resettlement challenges. CEO Renee Hardman notes LSI is "navigating the waters" while serving those in need. I support LSI's stellar work with all refugees, yet I must ask our government: If we can expedite refugee status for 59 Afrikaners, why have we abandoned our Afghan allies? Nearly 900 Afghan refugees came to Iowa after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Now, as Afrikaners were welcomed to Iowa, some Afghan allies were receiving deportation notices from the Department of Homeland Security ordering them to leave the country within days. These allies risked their lives serving alongside American forces. Iowa veterans understand the terror they'd face if returned. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America works with veterans organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, to advocate for Afghan resettlement. I urge Iowans to contact Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst and your U.S. representatives. Ask them to work with President Donald Trump to reopen refugee resettlement for Afghan allies. If we can fast-track South African families, we can honor promises to those who stood with us in Afghanistan. Michael Wilker, Decorah A recent letter by Mike Tramontina excoriates Des Moines resident and soon-to-be Berkshire Hathaway chairman Greg Abel for multiple alleged environmental and commercial offenses, the most egregious being his supposed responsibility in producing CO2 that has caused great harm to Iowans, including "derechos, tornadoes, major floods, and multi-year droughts." Well, Greg Abel has certainly accomplished many achievements within Iowa and the nation. However, Tramontina's belief that Abel should replace MidAmerican's generation facilities with a 'balanced approach of renewables, storage and conservation" is unrealistic and rather silly. One might ask how we Iowans would keep the lights on and the air conditioner running in our warmest months of the summer without the benefit of MidAmerican's base load power generation? Tim Will, Des Moines Recent trips to who knows where, which includes gravel roads, two-lane hard surface roads, and four-lane controlled access highways; I see no reason why my gas tax or other public transportation taxes should be spent on speed limit signs, as they seem to be a total waste. In an 8-mile stretch on Interstate Highway 29 with my cruise control set to 65 mph, I was passed by 17 cars. On a recent trip over a four-lane uncontrolled access highway with the cruise set at the same 65 mph, we were passed by nine cars in a 6-mile stretch. I seldom see any enforcement of the speed limits. In a recent round trip to a city 80 miles from home we never saw a single enforcement vehicle. In a 'zone with increased enforcement," a car passed me doing considerably more than the posted 65 mph limit and I saw no "increased enforcement." Then I was passed by a police car in a 55-mph zone with no siren or emergency lighting displayed. In addition, I do not comprehend hands-free enforcement of popular cellphones. I understand the reasoning behind the law; however, the automotive industry is providing a wide-screen TV on the dash of cars. Is that not a glaring distraction also? Where is the disconnect here? George Cox, Hornick I want to personally take this opportunity on behalf of myself, and I hope all Iowans, to "thank" all of our representatives in Congress who voted to codify the changing of the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. I know I can finally rest easy knowing that's done. Ronald Davidson, Clive I don't understand why Gov. Kim Reynolds doesn't trust lower-income Iowans to feed their families healthy food. Does she really think they are going to spend federal summer food money unwisely, or is this politically motivated? Either way it's demeaning. Nancy Moon, Des Moines Letter writer Donald Bohlken calls Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott a hypocrite for being a Christian pastor and pro-choice ('Real Christian pastors don't support abortion,' May 8). Well, many Christians — about 60% in many polls — are pro-choice. In support of his opinion, Bohlken cites a couple ambiguous Bible passages that have nothing to do with abortion. So God hates abortion and wants to make that clear, but in his 1,200-page moral guide, says only these things? Bohlken disregards the anti-life parts of the Bible, such as the death penalty for trivial offenses, and the numerous genocides. He doesn't mention that God drowned all humanity, including babies and pregnant women. Jesus said nothing about abortion, but lots about taking care of people. I expect that Trone Garriott will continue to promote the issues important to Iowans while showing some compassion. She is no hypocrite. Timothy Olson, West Des Moines State Sen. Sandy Salmon is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its decision in Obergefell that affirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry. The resolution she filed with the Iowa Senate says it is "by Salmon.' In reality the resolution is plagiarized almost in its entirety from the first paragraph of Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent in Obergefell, nearly word for word. No original thoughts set forth. That, Senator, is considered stealing: one of the big ten. So, we have a Christian senator seeking to overturn a Supreme Court decision based on religion and she filed a document she plagiarized in support. You cannot make this up. Kolleen Samek, Des Moines This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Speeders run rampant on Iowa highways and streets | Letters
CNN
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Commentary: Stop Viewing Competency Through a Red or Blue Lens
From Former President Joe Biden to Sen. Fetterman — questions about ability are not about ideology, but about ability. If we want to restore trust in our institutions, we must be willing to hold all public servants to the same standard, regardless of age, party affiliation, or personal affinity. It means confronting uncomfortable truths when they involve people we support and resisting the urge to score points when they involve someone we oppose.
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- RNZ News
Abuse toward Wellington City Council staff up 323 percent
Wellington City Council councillor Teri O'Neill. Photo: RNZ / Mary Argue A Wellington city councillor who's been subjected to vitriol and harassment says abuse from members of the public is always shocking. Council data shows abuse towards staffers has increased in recent years, with reports of personal confrontations jumping from around 400 per year in 2020, to almost 1000 annually. Teri O'Neill said she dealt with "significant online abuse" which in some instances has spilled into the real world. "I had a case in its extremity that I had to block from all my social media and then he started messaging my little sister on Instagram trying to get to me." She'd also had an unmarked package show up at her house - it was well-intentioned - but she said it was triggering to know that someone knew where she lived. "We believe that it was dropped off in person ... just really insidious things." O'Neill said when she saw council staffers getting abused, her first instinct was to step in and try to de-escalate the situation. She said she understood people's frustration with the council, but said vitriol and hate was not the way to get the leak outside the front door fixed. "I believe that no one, regardless of what cause or what job they have, deserves to show up to work and be yelled at, disrespected or insulted - and I think that's a minimum standard." The MySafety system where staffers Health & Safety reports - ranging from falls, cuts and other workplace injuries - also tracked personal confrontations and revealed it was the highest risk staffers faced, increasing 323 percent since 2016. Photo: Supplied / Wellington City Council Wellington City Council's senior senior health and safety partner, Chris Brown said the rise in abuse both online and in person, had coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic. Brown said he'd experienced the abuse firsthand as a former issues resolution officer and said frontline workers, such as parking wardens, were particularly targeted. "They do get told to f*** off. They do get told to pack the hell up ... to get out, to go away or they're physically getting threatened." He said people's frustration at the council shouldn't be directed at individuals just trying to do their job. "All we want is for them to take a pause first and imagine what it would be like for one of their family members to receive that level of abuse, and redirect it a little bit." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
