Treasurer flags exit offers under public sector cuts (ABC)

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The Tasmanian Greens are raising doubts the State Government will be able carry out its plans to downsize the public service without forced redundancies.

The Treasurer Peter Gutwein has confirmed voluntary redundancies will offered to state public servants as it tries to rein in spending.

The Government is promising to work hard to avoid laying off as many as 1,500 public servants between now and 2018.

During the election campaign, the Liberals pledged to cut the public service by 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, and are now blaming the need for any further job losses on Labor.

Mr Gutwein says the 500 FTEs will go through natural attrition, but any cuts beyond that could be made in other ways.

"We've been clear in regards to voluntary redundancy, inter-agency management, intra-agency management, vacancy control - those measures we will use, but we are ruling out clearly forced redundancies," he said.

He is also suggesting there are now another 1,000 jobs in the firing line, and blames Labor.

"Labor had left a disgraceful 1,000 job cuts."

Labor's Lara Giddings rejects that.

"Everything Labor has done was firmly on the record," the former Premier said.

She accuses the Government of going back on its word.

"If we see the 501st public servant go, they have broken their election promise."

Ms Giddings insists a pay freeze successfully reined in the public sector wage bill when she was in government and says falling revenue wreaked havoc with Labor's savings strategy.

"Even since the election we have seen a further drop in GST and mineral royalties, nothing to do with Labor," she said.

The Greens leader, Kim Booth, doubts the public sector job cuts can be achieved through natural attrition.

"Where are they going to come from, there just simply isn't the capacity in the public service to take out 1,500 public sector workers," he said.

The Treasurer has ruled out forced redundancies and insists essential services will be quarantined from job cuts.

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