Flood-hit NSW communities face job cuts as WaterNSW and government slash public services

Communities in NSW could be left without workers to support them after flood events, a union leader has warned, after another 300 state government jobs were slashed.

WaterNSW, the state-owned dam manager and bulk-water supplier to Sydney Water, said it would slash the number of executives and senior managers by 30 per cent.

Commencing with voluntary reductions, the cuts are the latest to hit the state workforce in recent weeks and come after renewed flooding in central NSW last week.

Australian Service Union secretary Angus McFarland said the cuts “beggar belief” with “economists, scientists” warning the number of floods will double in 10 years.

“I’m worried this is very shortsighted,” Mr McFarland said.

“Are we going to have a situation in just a month or two where there’s another flooding event, and suddenly there aren’t the workers there to support the community?

“WaterNSW has a lot to answer (for), but also the government does, because at the end of the day WaterNSW is operated by the government.

“They own and operate on behalf of the people of NSW, so we are worried about impacts on the state’s water security and the state’s climate preparedness.”

More than 20,000 homes are without power in the Hunter Valley as a result of the flooding, the latest to smash central and northern NSW in recent months.

‘Terrible week’ for NSW public servants

NSW Premier Chris Minns campaigned prior to the 2024 state election on a 15 per cent cut to upper echelons of the public service.

The cuts also come after almost 1000 senior service manager positions would be slashed at Transport for NSW, which manages the state’s public transport and roads.

Only days later, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development – the state’s only dedicated regional department – said it would cut 165 jobs.

Public Service Association General Secretary Stewart Little described it as a “terrible week for the public sector”.

“It’s disgraceful that you’ve had these cuts being implemented to regional locations, frontline jobs,” she said.

“These aren’t background jobs that deal with pay and things … they’re helping communities.

“Then, willy nilly, we’ve had 300 jobs cut and announced in this water restructure, but we’ve lost jobs in DPI, elsewhere, and the government haven’t explained it.

“Quite frankly, the government have lost control of the fatcat bureaucrats.

“They’re the ones overseeing all of this, and they’re doing it to save their own speeds.”

Asked during question time on Tuesday about cuts to the DPIRD, Monaro MP Steve Whan said “no final decision had been made about the changes”.

“The department is focusing on its core business of protecting, supporting, and developing primary industries in regional economies,” he said.

“The department is proposing to implement changes that will enable it to work in a financially sustainable and responsible way, while maintaining service levels.

“All impacted staff will be appropriately supported and consultation is being undertaken.”

Mr Whan acknowledged the changes would affect regionally based staff, but noted increases to staff levels in response to the Covid pandemic.

“That means that there is, over time, a need to bring them back to focus on the areas which are the core areas,” he said.

Financial strife at WaterNSW

Unions NSW Secretary called on the WaterNSW board to resign as a result of the planned cuts.

“They have been ineffective and been unable to manage the circumstances in which they employ people,” he said.

In a statement, WaterNSW said it would be “unable to continue delivering all its current functions in the same way” with significantly reduced funding.

The reduction, they said, was a result of determinations by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, which set the maximum price that WaterNSW can charge its customers for bulk, unfiltered water in Sydney.

“To put the size of the challenge in numbers, we now need to find a further $80m each year in cost savings,” WaterNSW said.

“We are performing a fundamental reset of WaterNSW, becoming a leaner, smaller and more focused business, with formal consultation on planned changes.

“Unfortunately, some staff will be impacted as part of this process.

“We are reducing the number of executives and senior managers by greater than 30 per cent, and we will reduce our total workforce by approximately 300 employees.

“Despite this, WaterNSW will continue to have hundreds of expert employees based across regional NSW and Greater Sydney, where we are committed to retaining a strong local presence.”