Tomorrow’s state mini-budget will freeze public sector hiring, with only front-line positions exempted, New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees has revealed.
The Daily Telegraph
The hiring freeze will also prevent anyone from advertising for a new premier on the government’s jobs website.
Mr Rees is not looking forward to his next performance review, in 2011. If asked to justify his role, the Premier is expected to ignore his position description and say that he’s enjoyable to work with and makes the office environment more fun.
Mr Rees certainly does bring more than the occasional chuckle to Parliament House, especially with his “Morris Iemma? Doesn’t ring any bells” routine.
But dumping Mr Rees would be tough: the former garbage collector’s departure would almost certainly require a week of newspaper cartoons in which he is depicted being thrown into a garbage bin—and it’s not at all clear that readers are willing to face that sort of crap again.
While it’s an open question whether anyone on Labor’s front bench has the skills and experience required to take on the job of premier, public service bosses are considering simply deleting the position altogether.