DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY
INDUSTRIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT —VOLUNTARY SEVERANCE
1174. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to question without notice
1158 that I asked yesterday, noting that of the 38 redundancies made in the
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in the last 12
months, almost 90 per cent of those redundancies were made following a media
statement that claimed the minister would be rebuilding capacity.
(1) Will the
minister detail the position title, level and full-time equivalent hours of
each of the 38 voluntary severances accepted?
(2) How many of
these positions have been replaced?
(3) How many more
redundancies are planned in the next 12 months?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
I
think it is worth reminding members that under the previous government, jobs in
the then Department of Agriculture and Food were cut by almost 40 per
cent and a further 37 per cent cut had been factored into the department's
budget over the forward estimates. As we have said, we have managed to stop the
rot. The budget we inherited would have taken the Department of Primary
Industries and Regional Development from around 1 640 FTEs to 1 300 FTEs. We
have provided an additional $131.5 million of expenditure to provide a stable
base for around 1 580 FTEs.
(1) I table the attached document.
[See paper 3284.]
(2) None of these
positions have been replaced. Voluntary severances can be offered only to
registrable employees; that is, employees who are surplus to the requirements
in their agency or whose job has been abolished and therefore no longer exists.
However, as the member would be aware, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has
undergone a comprehensive re-organisation to integrate the functions and
services of the three former agencies and to ensure it is fit for purpose. A
range of new positions have been created in this process.
(3) The department does not have any plan for further
voluntary redundancies at this time. For those employees who become
registrable, the department's primary focus remains on finding
meaningful work and, ultimately, a new
suitable placement for them, either within the department or the broader WA
public sector.