Peter Dutton rules out job cuts in spy agencies
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The news: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has ruled out any cuts to Australia’s intelligence agencies, further narrowing the pool of public sector jobs targeted for reduction.
The context: Dutton has pledged to axe around two thirds of Canberra-based public service roles, though he has been forced to clarify the policy repeatedly throughout the campaign.
The opposition leader has refused to be drawn on where the 41,000 cuts would come from, but maintains that no “frontline” workers will be affected — a term he has yet to clearly define.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has seized on the proposal to argue Dutton plans to target areas like health and education.
In his most definitive comments on the policy to date, Dutton on Wednesday flatly ruled out cuts to Australia’s key intelligence agencies — ASIO, ASIS and the ASD — with both leaders acknowledging an increasingly volatile national security environment.
The pledge narrows the pool of areas the Coalition could cut from, which Dutton has drastically reduced throughout the campaign as his policy came under greater scrutiny.
ASIO and the ASD employ more than 5000 people combined, while ASIS is unable to disclose its number of employees. The majority of all three agencies’ employees are Canberra-based.
The Coalition has also shifted to saying the cuts would come from natural attrition — like job changes and retirements — rather than forced redundancies.
Dutton was then forced to clarify that the only roles to go will be Canberra-based, potentially throwing out the timeframe, given frontline workers have a higher turnover. Only 68,000 public servants are based in the capital as of June last year.
On Wednesday, he also declined to answer directly when asked whether spending on consultants, which ballooned under the former Coalition government, would grow to fill any shortfalls left behind.
What they said: “Yes,” Dutton said, when asked on Wednesday whether he could rule out cuts to intelligence services.
The source: Peter Dutton press conference
