The Liberal Government has written to public sector unions urging them to put forward a sensible and reasonable wage freeze proposal to Government and help us save 500 public sector jobs.
It's been reported some unions are proposing a pay freeze until June 30th 2015 contingent upon not cutting any of the 500 jobs. This is exactly the "straw man" proposal we have warned we will not accept.
Any proposal which delivers less than the $50 million in savings needed over a full year will result in job losses. As we have said previously, an 18 month pay freeze with no freeze on increments will deliver those savings.
It is imperative we get the Budget under control so we can deliver essential services into the future and we will not be deterred in this task.
Since the rejection of the pay freeze from Unions, Labor and the Greens, the Government has been working with Agency Heads and Ministers to develop alternative saving options.
While no final decisions have been made, Cabinet will be considering a range of saving options by the end of the month.
If unions fail to propose a pay freeze proposal without condition, our considerations will include a number of options which, unfortunately, will impact on front line services across health, education and other Government services.
We do not wish to implement any of these options, however we have been left with no alternative.
I urge unions to reconsider their position and bring forward a sensible and reasonable wage freeze proposal. Any savings from a sensible and reasonable proposal will be used to limit job losses, which is the same approach we've adopted in guaranteeing frontline police jobs.
The Budget bottom line is not negotiable – it is now up to the unions to determine how we get there.