PSA MEDIA RELEASE
February 10, 2009
For Immediate Use

PSA concerned government spending cuts will cut services and jobs

“We recognise these are tough times,” says PSA National Secretary Brenda Pilott.” But our concern is that the government is going to push its departments too far and they’ll end up making cuts to services and jobs that will make the recession worse.”

The Dominion Post reports today that Prime Minister John Key says Cabinet Ministers have been working aggressively with officials on the line-by-line expenditure review of spending by government departments. Mr Key revealed that he had rejected the first round of savings put up to him by officials and made them go away to find more.

“We’ve asked the government what it’s trying to achieve with these cuts and what the criteria is for making a cut, but it hasn’t told us,” says Brenda Pilott.

“We know that government departments are already operating on very tight budgets and that demand for their services continues to rise.”

“Our concern is that the government is demanding cuts that will mean departments will have to cut services at a time when people will be turning more and more to their public services for support.”

“Even worse government departments may be forced to cut jobs, as DOC did last year when it shed 60 jobs because of a funding shortfall.”

“That won’t help us get out of the recession, in fact it will make things worse,” says Brenda Pilott.

Mr Key has said his prime goal in combating the recession is to keep people in work.

“We agree with that goal one hundred per cent. We just hope that applies to people working in the public sector as well as the private sector,” says Brenda Pilott.

“We must remember that we are all in this together. It should not be a case of cutting the public sector to prop up the private sector.”

“Let’s not forget that there’s a personal and public cost for every worker that loses their job,” says Brenda Pilott.

ENDS

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