Treasurer
Minister for Local Government
Minister for State Growth
Liberal Member for Bass

Negotiations with union leaders
 

31 January 2019

The Tasmanian Government believes that our hard-working public servants deserve a fair and affordable pay rise.

Throughout negotiations with unions, the Government has remained committed to the principle that we must strike the right balance between delivering a fair and affordable pay rise for public servants, continuing to invest in additional frontline services, and ensuring our budget remains strong.

This morning, we provided the unions with a briefing on the Revised Estimates Report, handed down yesterday, and asked that they return to our next meeting with proposals that may enable us to reach an agreement. We also clearly explained that the Government will not to go into deficit by borrowing to fund unaffordable wage rises which would lead to an unsustainable budget position.

The Government has actively been working towards a resolution and has already submitted several formal offers to unions which seeks to achieve this balance however these have been rejected to date.

Our meeting this morning was constructive and we hope that the unions will give consideration to options to discuss with the Government when we meet again within two weeks.

The Government will continue to negotiate with unions in good faith and we strongly urge unions not to disrupt Tasmanians through industrial action, particularly while negotiations remain active.

We are committed to delivering strong sustainable budget management and will continue to work with unions to reach an agreement that is fair and affordable.