Bureau job plan jitters
SECRECY surrounding a confidential draft report outlining operational plans for the Bureau of Meteorology has raised concerns over the future of Tasmania’s forecasting jobs.
The weather bureau’s recently constructed Concept of Operations document, which outlines “services-strengthening” approaches under consideration, won’t be made public for taxpayers to view despite union access requests.
The bureau said the draft report, if made public, could pose a security risk.
The union representing bureau workers last month met with the Department of Environment and Energy to question why secrecy remained over the report.
Community and Public Sector Union regional secretary Zac Batchelor said in order to view the report, union officials were told they would need to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
“It is particularly concerning that a government department like the BOM, one that traditionally has a very respectful and consultative relationship with the public and its workforce, is behaving in such a secretive manner,” he said.
“They’ve told us no jobs will go and that there will be an Antarctic and marine prediction centre in Tassie. We acknowledge that this is a positive development however we have no details on how many jobs that will be.”
Mr Batchelor said the union held fears about how Tasmania’s weather forecasting jobs would look in the coming years. The Mercury understands the bureau employs about 26 workers in Tasmania.
“We are unsure precisely what work staff, currently doing public weather forecasting, would be doing in the future,” Mr Batchelor said.
A bureau spokesman said the Concept of Operations was still in a draft state and the decision not to release it was a matter of security.
“The draft Concept of Operations contains specific information about the bureau’s internal operating procedures and technology which, if released publicly, could place the bureau at risk from a security and commercial probity standpoint,” the spokesman said.
“The bureau has a duty to safeguard this information, which is why the Concept of Operations is an internal document and, accordingly, is not for broader release.”
The spokesman said: “The bureau’s continued local presence and services for the Tasmanian community is guaranteed and staff numbers in the Hobart office, dedicated to public weather services, will be maintained.”
It comes after fears were raised last year under a plan to move forecasters to centralised locations in Melbourne and Brisbane before bureau boss Andrew Johnson said “we have no intention to reduce the numbers of people we have in our Tasmanian office”.