Minister denies ambulance workers asked to nominate job cuts

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The Tasmanian Government has denied ambulance workers have been asked to nominate their colleagues for redundancy.

A document from Ambulance Tasmania estimated 30-35 jobs could go and an email sent to staff asked them to contribute ideas for budget savings.

The document said submissions just needed to be an email “explaining your suggestion, the risks, the efficiencies and how any work might be distributed if it involves restructure or removal of roles and functions”.

Labor MP Rebecca White said the request amounted to asking people to dob in their colleagues for redundancy.

“This generates a culture of fear and mistrust at a time when we’re already facing quite a lot of disruption in the public sector,” she said.

“To be asked to identify colleagues that you work with and to nominate them to be considered to lose their job is really unfortunate practice.”

The Government is cutting more than 800 jobs across the public sector.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said an email asking for staff to identify jobs to go did not exist and that Ambulance Tasmania was consulting its staff and his department on possible savings.

He told Parliament he fully supported Ambulance Tasmania’s bid to find savings.

“As for management and what management of Ambulance Tasmania are doing at the operational level to engage with their staff, I want to express my confidence in the leadership of Ambulance Tasmania to very professionally and sensitively engage with their staff.”

The Government said there was no final decision on numbers being cut and accused Labor of scaremongering.