Prime Minister Turnbull is about to launch a new wave of outsourcing and cutbacks?

Following the announcement that a corporate dominated, government-appointed commission is to undertake a comprehensive review of the public services, concern is mounting that Prime Minister Turnbull is about to launch a new wave of outsourcing and cutbacks. “It follows the Coalition's massive cuts to public service staffing, and coincides with growing scrutiny of the government's booming spend on contractors and consultants” reports the Canberra Times. Responding to the announcement, CPSU National Secretary Nadine Flood said, “A clear-eyed and objective look at the Australian Public Service is clearly needed, but we have real concerns that this review will be subservient to neoliberal orthodoxy and the bizarre and damaging policies the Turnbull Government has imposed in pursuit of that extreme ideology. This review must be a catalyst to repair the ongoing damage that’s been inflicted by the Turnbull Government on public services, regulatory and policy capability, rather than a license to double-down on those flawed policies. Just one example is their whacky policy that the Australian Public Service must be smaller than when John Howard lost office, with an Average Staffing Level cap driving expensive and damaging contracting out and privatization.”