New South Wales Treasurer Mike Baird says public sector workers who are offered voluntary redundancies will be sacked if they do not accept them.

The State Government has today released details of the first 1,900 public sector jobs which will go as part of a plan to shed 5,000 positions.

The job cuts were announced by Mr Baird when he handed down his first budget last month, and were described at the time by the Treasurer as "voluntary redundancies".

But this morning Mr Baird was quizzed in an estimates hearing in State Parliament about what will happen if a worker refuses to accept a redundancy package.

"If they decide they don't want to pursue that then there is three months to look for another job," Mr Baird told the committee.

"What we have done is get rid of that unattached list."

Workers that do not find another job within the three months will not be kept on the public payroll.

Mr Baird's stance was criticised by Labor MP Walt Secord.

"Voluntary no longer means voluntary. Voluntary means sacked," Mr Secord said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-25/baird-admits-voluntary-redundancies-compulsory/3599424

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a sacking offence for junior

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says the government will push ahead on its target of 5000 public sector redundancies ahead of his announcement of the first round.

Mr O'Farrell, who is expected to announce the first round of the cuts, flagged in September's budget, today, says the original target remains.

"We've committed ourselves to a target, a target of 5000 remains," Mr O'Farrell told reporters in Sydney.

The Treasurer, Mike Baird, is facing a backbench revolt over plans to abolish a $35 million scheme that MPs use to distribute grants to grassroots projects such as men's sheds and upgrading sports fields. The Sun-Herald has learnt 35 government MPs have appealed directly to the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, to shield the Community Building Partnership program from Mr Baird's budget axe.
The plan has angered groups such as Men's Shed which said it has no other source of government funding in NSW.
Created by Labor, the partnership is particularly popular with MPs in marginal seats. Each MP receives up to $400,000 to spend on building-related projects needed by local sporting community and social groups.
Mr Baird has told Coalition MPs it is unlikely the scheme will survive his upcoming slash-and-burn budget in June...

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird says a labour expense cap to be introduced in Tuesday's budget doesn't have to result in 10,000 public sector job cuts.

He say that with better management of work arrangements - such as leave and contracts - "it won't get to that number".
As part of his second state budget, Mr Baird will announce a binding 1.2 per cent annual cap on all government agencies to save $2.2 billion over four years, which is equivalent to 10,000 jobs.
Nurses, police and teachers will be shielded from the axe.
Mr Baird said 10,000 job losses "is a number that could result across this state".
"My expectation is that it won't get to that number because departments will have the capacity within their employee expenses to manage (the cuts)," he told reporters in Sydney.
"Whether it be overtime, whether it be part time arrangements, whether it be temps or contractors, there is a huge expense that comes with managing all these services, and what the department heads want is the flexibility to manage them.
"We do expect to see losses, it's up to the departments to manage it within that labour expense cap."
Mr Baird said the public service had grown beyond its means.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/job-cuts-wont-get-to-10000-says-baird-20120608-2004w.html#ixzz1xB4EYrcj

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I have no idea what Mike means when he says "the public service has grown beyond its means"... The means of the public service are at the pleasure of the choices governments maketh... Nothing else... Now if we want to talk about efficiency, it's a different kettle of fish... One issue that one can argue strongly is that the public service has a few stretch-marks already and the O'Feral government has spent far too much money on "consultants"... The previous Labor government already had trimmed the public service to the bone in many sectors... Thus what can we expect here from the young man of forced voluntary redundancies?... See toon at top....

THE O'Farrell government will sell the Port of Newcastle to raise more than $700 million - half of which will be used to build a light rail line through the Hunter city, Treasurer Mike Baird has announced in the state budget today.

Mr Baird announced a massive deficit of $1.89 billion for 2013-14, a deficit of $563 million for 2014-15, with the budget heading back into surplus for $157 million in 2015-16 and $535 million for 2016-17.

The Treasurer argued that he was hindered by a new accounting measure around superannuation which effectively drags down all the budget results by $1 billion a year, and claimed compared to last year's measure the deficit for this year was actually $329 million.

The Newcastle port sale is just the latest asset sale the government has embarked upon to pay for its ambitious infrastructure plans after the $4.7 billion sale of Port Botany and Port Kembla which are paying for the first instalment of the West Connex Motorway.

As already revealed, other key elements of the budget include an increase in the payroll tax threshold from $689,000 to $750,000 - which will save every business in NSW an average $3,000 a year. A payroll tax rebate of $5000 will also apply for businesses who employ new employees for another two years.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/state-budget-delivers-189b-deficit-despite-numerous-asset-sales-to-fund-projects/story-fnii5s3z-1226665576428

Of course this horror budget has gone under the radar at most media outlet and the Daily Telegraph had the gall to call it Gold Plated!!!!... Had Labor delivered such a budget, the media would have been vile about Labor... But since it is one of Tony's mob who is selling the house to pay for the furniture on the north shore, everything is sweet as pie in the sky... See toon at top... and read about the O'Farrell turn around in regard to green slips.

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird is being accused of misleading Parliament after documents cast doubt over the appointment of former banking colleague Chum Darvall to a $106,000 position on a government board.

The documents also reveal Mr Darvall, who previously worked with Mr Baird at Deutsche Bank, was not interviewed for the position and was appointed through a ''desktop review''.

The revelation comes months after Community Services Minister Pru Goward was accused of misleading Parliament over the issue of caseworker numbers for at-risk children.
In January last year Mr Baird and then finance minister Greg Pearce recommended Mr Darvall be appointed chairman of the government-owned electricity company TransGrid.

Mr Baird, a former banker, came under pressure from Labor and the Greens over the appointment after it emerged he had worked with Mr Darvall at the bank before entering politics.
During a budget estimates hearing last August, Mr Baird dismissed the criticism. He has said Mr Darvall was eminently qualified for the position and that they had worked together 17 years ago.
But documents tabled in the NSW upper house cast doubt on Mr Baird's assertion to the committee that the appointment was ''approved by full cabinet''.Mr Darvall's appointment and that of Helen Garnett as chairwoman of Delta Electricity were considered by cabinet on December 19, 2011, but it is understood Energy Minister Chris Hartcher requested more time.
An email from the deputy general counsel in the Premier's department, Rachel McCallum, dated the following January 6, says Mr Baird's office was seeking to have the appointments ''endorsed by the Premier in lieu of full cabinet approval''.
A January 9 email from the department's principal legal officer, Kate Boyd, confirms Mr Baird was seeking administrative approval ''in lieu of Cabinet approval''. This meant Barry O'Farrell would sign the appointment once Mr Hartcher's endorsement was received.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/treasurer-mike-baird-misled-nsw-parliament-says-opposition-leader-john-robertson-20131108-2x735.html#ixzz2k7jim0Q6

See toon and story at top...