An independent MP has accused Premier Jeremy Rockliff of leaving families without answers, a day after 250 public servants learned their jobs were at risk.
The union representing public servants has also condemned the decision as “reckless” and “deeply contradictory”.
Kristie Johnston questioned Rockliff in parliament on Wednesday after staff at the Department of State Growth were told the department will soon be no more.
“These are not sheep in a paddock,” Johnston told question time.
“They are people with families, mortgages, rents to pay, cost-of-living pressures.”
She described the announcement as “heartless and carelessly short on detail for families desperate for certainty”.
The cuts represent about a quarter of the department’s workforce.
Rockliff announced the restructure on Tuesday as part of his State of the State address.
The Department of State Growth will be dissolved after a decade, with functions split between new entities including Building Tasmania and a tourism and creative arts body.
Johnston pressed the premier on when staff would learn their fate, saying he had left “The Sword of Damocles hanging over these families’ heads”.
“It was an announcement without substance,” she said.
Rockliff said the government would rely on a recruitment freeze, natural attrition, redeployment, voluntary redundancies and a workplace renewal program to reach its target.
But he declined to provide a breakdown when Johnston asked how many workers would fall into each category.
“We will work through this in a very sensitive way,” he said.
“I recognise behind every number there is a person, an individual and of course a family. I’m very mindful of that.”
CPSU general secretary Thirza White said the announcement would cause “enormous anxiety” for workers and their families.
“The premier cannot stand in parliament and praise the Department of State Growth for creating tens of thousands of jobs and then announce the loss of 250 of the very jobs that made that success possible,” she said.
White warned the impact would hit Hobart hard, where the public service is a major employer.
“Cutting hundreds of jobs will hurt families, local businesses and the broader economy,” she said.
The cuts form part of a broader plan announced 12 months ago to reduce the Tasmanian public service by 2,500 positions.
Rockliff said unions would play a key role in the transition but offered no timeline for when affected staff would know their positions.
