New South Wales Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet has announced a 3% pay rise for all public sector workers across the state.
Key points:
- Funding is planned to address the general staff shortage
- NSW shadow minister Ryan Park says it will take a long time to rebuild the system under “enormous pressure”
- Greens spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann says “generous pay raise” must go hand in hand with funding commitment
Perrottet also announced that all front-line health workers would receive a $ 3,000 bonus to thank them for their COVID service.
That adds up to 10,000 additional doctors, nurses and other health care workers, who will be hired with a single $ 4.5 billion funding package in the next state budget.
“Today we are announcing the biggest boost to our healthcare workforce in the state’s history and the largest in the country,” Perrottet said.
“It will make a real difference to make sure that wherever you live, from the city to the ‘burbs to the bush, you’ll have the best health care possible.’
He said a $ 3,000 “appreciation” payment would also be made to health care workers.
“It’s been a difficult two years for our entire state, but our workers have been at the forefront … thank you very much for what you’ve done for all of us,” Perrottet said.
Some of the busiest hospitals in the state have suffered from chronic staff shortages and delays in the emergency department due to the COVID pandemic, the current flu outbreak and population growth.
But Shadow Health Minister Ryan Park said that while he welcomed additional staff, it would not be enough to solve the current health system problems.
“I am certainly concerned that with what our healthcare and hospital system has experienced over the last 10 years, it will take a long time to rebuild,” Park said.
“We have a record of waiting for access to emergency services, a long wait for elective surgery and a long wait for ambulance care … it’s a hospital system under enormous pressure.”
NSW Greens health spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann was also skeptical about whether the plan would work without further commitments.
“Well, there’s no hope in hell that the government will fill those 10,000 positions unless they match it with a generous pay rise and better conditions, including ratios,” Faehrmann said.
Perrottet announced funding for nearly 2,000 paramedics and additional support staff yesterday to help the system cope.
New South Wales Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said he was confident the service could find 1,800 new paramedics.
“As of today, 200 job vacancies will be targeted at university paramedics who are already there … so it will be a major injection to take the immediate pressure off us,” Morgan said.
It is believed that the state government will have more to say about the 2.5 per cent public sector wage cap in the coming days.
Posted 2 hours, 2 hours ago, Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 9:47 PM, updated 2 hours, 2 minutes ago, Monday, June 6, 2022 at 12:34 AM