Peter Dutton coy on what public servant jobs he will slash if he wins election | Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton has yet to reveal any detail about his plan to slash public servant jobs in Canberra under a government he leads, as Labor warns his plan will cut crucial government services and risks another robodebt.

In a rare press conference at Parliament House on Thursday, the opposition leader provided little information on his plans to get the “economy back on track” through slashing government jobs and other “wasteful spending”.

“We’ll make announcements in relation to our policies in due course, but I do note that with the 36,000 additional, that brings the public service up to over 200,000,” he said.

“I’m happy to make the announcement at the time, but I’ve been clear we’re not having 36,000 additional public servants in Canberra.”

Dutton claimed the growth under the Albanese government was to “please the unions” not “provide a more efficient delivery of service”.

The public service minister, Katy Gallagher, described Dutton’s plans as “reckless and arrogant” and a “return to worse services, expensive consultants, and the era of robodebt”.

Since the Coalition’s 2022-23 budget, the average staffing level for the public service has risen by 35,592 roles, most notably in the frontline services, such as the National Disability Insurance Agency, Services Australia as well as the defence and health departments.

The Australian Public Service Commission’s latest State of the Service report showed the number of public servants had risen to more than 185,000 as of June 2024, an 8.9% increase on the previous year.

In a speech to the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre in January, Dutton foreshadowed the axing of diversity and inclusion positions, along with “change managers” and “internal communication specialists”.

“Such positions, as I say, do nothing to improve the lives of everyday Australians,” Dutton claimed.

“They’re certainly not frontline service delivery roles that can make a difference to people’s lives.”

A number of Dutton’s frontbench have responded differently when asked which jobs would be slashed.

Shadow ministers Jane Hume and David Coleman did not address questions this week about whether they would oversee cuts in their own future portfolio departments, if elected.

The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has previously suggested all 36,000 jobs should be slashed but has softened his language since.

“It’s time for us to get out of your life, not put more public servants into it,” he said in Canberra in early February.

A Coalition reshuffle in January saw the promotion of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to a new Elon Musk-inspired shadow ministry role centring on government efficiency.

Price told The Australian the Coalition “won’t be cutting” the public service workforce, if elected, but would “halt” its growth.

A few days later, the Country Liberal senator told 2GB diversity and inclusion roles would be on the chopping block.

The Community and Public Sector Union deputy secretary, Rebecca Fawcett, accused the opposition of being deliberately coy to avoid losing support.

“Peter Dutton is not being honest with Australians about what public services he’ll cut because he wants you to believe it won’t be the ones you use or rely on,” she said.

“Peter Dutton and the Liberals don’t want a strong public service that works for mums and dads, veterans, students and pensioners – they want to funnel taxpayer money into the pockets of big consulting firms while leaving everyday Australians to fend for themselves.

“The only people that win from Peter Dutton’s plan to slash public services are consultants from places like PwC and KPMG.”

Dutton did not rule out a return to limiting spending on consultants, but said “if there is wasteful spending taking place, then it should be cut”.

An Albanese government audit in 2023 found the former Morrison government had spent $20.8bn outsourcing more than a third of public service operations.

Nearly 54,000 full-time staff were employed as consultants or service providers for the federal government during the 2021-22 financial year – the equivalent of 37% of the 144,300-employee public service, it found.