Jacinta Nampijinpa Price details vision for Aussie DOGE: Frontline services protected, diversity on the line

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has promised a Coalition Government “absolutely” will not make cuts to frontline services, but has “unproductive” diversity, equality and inclusion programs in her sights as she looks to make the public service more efficient.

If the Coalition wins the next election, Senator Nampijinpa Price would become Minister for Government Efficiency. While seemingly inspired by Donald Trump’s Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, the first-term Northern Territory senator says the focus will be on putting Australia first.

“We’ll be operating to serve the Australian people and the Australian people’s needs, which are obviously different those of Americans, and we’re making sure that we’re working efficiently for Australians,” she told The Nightly.

The senator, who became a household name during the Voice campaign, said she would be looking “right across the board” and is already working closely with her shadow cabinet colleagues to take a fine-tooth comb to big-spending portfolios like defence, the NDIS and Indigenous affairs.

Her job will be less about identifying waste — her colleagues would help her with that — but about “setting the direction” to put those savings where they’ll improve Australians’ lives.

It will be a key role in a Dutton Coalition Government, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealing on Sunday he would like her to sit in the Expenditure Review Committee, a government’s inner fiscal sanctum.

“I haven’t made the final decision in relation to who will be on that. Normally the composition would be the finance portfolios and somebody from one of the bigger-spending portfolios, normally health or education – but Jacinta would be central to the budget process, so it would make sense for her to be part of the ERC,” he told Sky News.

While the role has been labelled as “gimmicky” by the Government, who say such a ministry undercuts the work of the finance minister and treasurer, Senator Price has dismissed that.

“This is about funding practical measures, as opposed to just throwing money at an issue and hoping that it’ll fix things,” she said.

The functioning of the ministry may be different to how the US DOGE operates, but the Coalition does appear inspired by the Trump Administration’s crackdown on DEI and is preparing to look closely at those programs in Australia’s public service.

Mr Dutton last month said positions like “culture, diversity and inclusion advisers, change managers, and internal communications specialists could be cut because such positions “do nothing to improve the lives of everyday Australians”.

“We really want to take a focus on providing practical measures, rather than slowing down productivity,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said.

“There’s so much within the space (of DEI) that takes away from the actual day to day work of getting things done.

“We need to have respectful workplaces, but ultimately it’s about serving – getting on with the job and serving the Australian public.”

With some polls suggesting a minority Coalition Government could be on the cards, a smaller Government approach is set to be a major Opposition pitch to the electorate.

The finer details of this pledge have not yet been ironed out, with mixed messaging across the Coalition about which – if not all – of the 36,000 new public service jobs added since the 2022 election would be cut.

Mr Dutton has promised to release the details before the election, but has said his plan would not be to cut frontline services.

Labor have capitalised on the vague details, launching a scare campaign warning Mr Dutton has plans to cut from departments like Veterans Affairs, where an increase in staffing levels has cleared lengthy claim backlogs; and Services Australia.

Senator Nampijinpa Price said frontline jobs would not only be protected, but better invested in.

“Despite the Public Service having grown by 36,000, there’s been a 50 per cent blow out in crisis payments, Centrelink wait times have doubled, and health claims processing time has tripled. These are areas we need to make sure are becoming more efficient for everyday Australians,” she said.

The Government has also warned a cut to roles in Canberra will lead to a return to the large numbers of consultants engaged during the last Coalition Government.

Senator Nampijinpa Price said consultants “will always have their place”.

“The whole idea is to be efficient and effective for the Australian people across the board – whether its consultants or the public service,” she said.

Labor have maintained they don’t need a special minister to ensure Australians’ taxpayer dollars are being spent efficiently. A spokesperson for Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said Labor had found $92 billion in “responsible savings” since coming to Government, some of which has been rerouted.

“Peter Dutton has said he will cut $347 billion in spending if elected, but is keeping the detail of those cuts secret until after the election,” they said.

“At Veterans’ Affairs, 1,000 new staff have cleared a backlog of 42,000 unallocated veterans’ compensation claims left behind by the Coalition, and at Services Australia, 4,000 new staff have slashed wait times for parental leave payments by 90 per cent.

“Australians can’t afford Peter Dutton’s cuts, but at a bare minimum they should know what they are before the election.”