The state government is spending more than $1 million hiring external recruiters to fill government board positions at the same time as a public sector hiring freeze is blocking recruitment for frontline roles such as nurses and librarians, Labor claims.
Shadow Finance Minister Luke Edmunds said the contracts, uncovered through right to information requests, covered two deals to recruit board members across government businesses.
“I just think Tasmanians while they’re seeing hiring freezes on positions like nurses will be gobsmacked to see the government still spending a million dollars on just the recruitment process for fat cats for board positions,” Edmunds said.
He said the work could have been done far more cheaply.
“It’s something that could be done with a simple Expression of Interest process through any other kind of job that’s advertised in Tasmania,” he said.
Edmunds said the spending did not stack up given the state’s financial position.
“It just isn’t going to fly in the budget situation that we have in Tasmania at the moment,” he said.
“When we’ve got a budget crisis in Tasmania this million dollars could go a long way in the community services area in our health and education system,” he said.
Edmunds pointed to previous cases where expensive recruitment processes ended with someone already acting in the role getting the job.
Minister Roger Jaensch defended the use of external specialists, saying there would always be a need for independent advice in government.
“There is a role for independent specialists to come in on an as-needs basis rather than having a public service bloated with specialist, expensive expertise just waiting for a job,” Jaensch said.
“So we do that sparingly, but we do it in the public’s interest.”
Premier Jeremy Rockliff also pushed back on the criticism, pointing to the government’s investment in frontline services and strategic spending.
“We have invested in frontline services very clearly,” Rockliff said.
“That is evident when it comes to the number of full-time equivalent positions when it comes to our health system, our education system and indeed our public safety through our Tasmanian police service.”
He said Labor needed to see the bigger picture when it came to strategic government spending.
Labor is calling on the government to redirect the money toward protecting services Tasmanians rely on.
