Australian Gov. Sheds Another 200 Jobs In Printing Sector

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Date: Tuesday July 24, 2012 08:05:07 am
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    Australian Government Sheds Another 200 Jobs In Printing Sector

        Hundreds of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry jobs at risk
        Queensland alone in new budget goals
        Millions slashed from Education

    More than 200 employees are set to lose their jobs as the Queensland government pares back the operations of GoPrint and closes a QFleet workshop on Brisbane’s northside.Housing and Public Works Minister Bruce Flegg also flagged plans to reduce the vehicle fleet size by 10 per cent, as part of a raft of cuts announced this afternoon.Government printer GoPrint, which was at the centre of political controversy last week, will end its commercial printing operations to focus solely on “reserved services” for government, such as the printing of proposed legislation and parliamentary records that require a secure work environment.

    Dr Flegg said about 40 staff at GoPrint would be offered redundancies, with the 150-year-old government printer set to continue “in a smaller form”.He said GoPrint needed $3.6 million of additional taxpayers’ money to prop it up in 2010-11 and its commercial printing operations were “just not sustainable in a competitive environment”.“The reality is that the printing industry has changed dramatically in the last five years with far less material actually printed in this digital era,” he said in a statement.

    Premier Campbell Newman last week rebuked Dr Flegg over his decision to allow Liberal National Party organisational wing heavyweight Barry O’Sullivan to review the books of GoPrint and horticulture business GoPlants.A spokesman for Dr Flegg said while 40 GoPrint staff would go, about 10 to 15 would retain their jobs for the continuing government printing work.He said the decision was informed by departmental advice, not advice from Mr O’Sullivan, with the Cabinet Budget Review Commission approving the cuts.“None of Mr O’Sullivan’s informal verbal advice to the minister informed anything about job losses or job cuts,” the spokesman said.

    Dr Flegg also said the QFleet workshop at Zillmere, which employed 49 people and provided vehicle maintenance, would be closed within six to 12 months.“Further changes at QFleet to find savings include reducing the fleet size by 10 per cent and extending vehicles leases by a year,” he said.

    “Unfortunately, up to 20 people in QFleet head office will be offered redundancies as part of these reforms.”
    Dr Flegg said the government was also moving to close the operations of Sales and Distribution Services, a commercialised business unit that supplied office products, publications and logistical services to government.“Much like GoPrint, SDS, which currently employs 99 staff, has experienced losses in recent years,” he said.“SDS will be wound down over a period of nine months, with current stocks allowed to run down.

    “The government will ensure that SDS still has capacity to provide disaster support services over the coming storm season, as well as make sure there is a process in place to support the provision of supplies for the start of the 2013 school year.“Some functions of SDS will be transferred to various parts of government including the Department of Transport and Main Roads and the Department of Education and Training, but job losses will still occur.”Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said the announcement of additional job losses represented “another Black Friday” for more than 200 families.

    Shadow Public Works Minister Bill Byrne said it was clear Mr O’Sullivan’s visit to GoPrint “had nothing to do with saving these business units, and everything to do with shutting them down”.“I fear that staff at GoPlants, including many with disabilities, will be the next to feel the axe of this cold-hearted Newman government,” he said.“There is also still a question mark hanging over the workers in QBuild.”

    The job cuts come at a time of upheaval in the public service, with the Newman government looking for ways to reduce spending amid dire warnings about the state’s finances.Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin said leaked information from a Cabinet Budget Review submission suggested 550 jobs from the 2500 in the new Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry would be axed.

    Yesterday, Education, Training and Employment Minister John-Paul Langbroek said he had identified almost $23 million in spending cuts for his department and warned there would be more to come.Early this month, in an interview to mark 100 days since the LNP’s election victory, Mr Newman said the state needed to find ways to “deliver more with less”.He has previously said the state employs 20,000 more public servants than it could currently afford. About 3000 temporary contract positions ended in June.

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