PS workers get $40,000 head start

PUBLIC servants earning an average $40,000 more than other Tasmanians should be happy with a 2 per cent pay rise, Treasurer Peter Gutwein has declared.

Public sector workers on average earn $110,000 compared to the mean Tasmanian wage of $70,000, Mr Gutwein says.

The State Government is sticking steadfastly to its offer of a 2 per cent increase with negotiations set to begin this month.

“Tasmania has an excellent, dedicated and professional public sector,” Mr Gutwein said.

“They deserve to be, and are, paid well, especially in comparison to the private sector.

“The Government believes that public servants do deserve a pay rise and we have factored pay rises of 2 per cent each and every year into the upcoming budget.”

The 2017-18 budget allocated nearly $2.7 billion for the state’s 25,500 full-time equivalent public sector workers.

Labor and unions have argued a $190 million GST windfall should partly be used to fund a negotiated pay rise.

Nurses have said they will be the lowest paid in the country if the Government’s rise is locked in.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White said skyrocketing rents were making it harder for ordinary workers to make ends meet.

“Teachers, nurses and many in the public sector are strug- gling to pay rents,” Ms White said.

The Government’s stubborn approach meant the private sector was also unwilling to increase wages, she said.

“The State Government’s wages policy has put a ceiling on the wage increases of all Tasmanians,” Ms White said.

Mr Gutwein said most public servants already received additional pay rises every 12 months, resulting in total increases of 3-5 per cent each year.

“Should we continue with our sensible policy of providing wage increases of 2 per cent or, as Labor and the unions want us to, provide even bigger pay rises to people already earning on average $110,000 per year?” he said.