Hunter Workers is calling on future state governments to renew investment and funding into the region’s public services.

The plea follows the release of a report, which unveiled the provision of the essential sector generates far-reaching economic and social benefits for the Hunter, injecting billions of dollars into local communities and supporting tens of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly.

Prepared by The Australia Institute Centre for Future Work, the study also discovered the typical NSW employee was losing $16,700 a year, as a result of the persistent capping of wage increases.

“There is an unfortunate tendency in politics to view public services as merely a cost item on a government budget,” the organisation’s economist and director, Dr Jim Stanford, said.

“But, in fact, they are a vital driver of economic growth and job creation.

“State-funded public services also support tens of thousands of private sector jobs in the Hunter, both upstream in the supply chain and downstream through consumer goods and service sectors.

“International evidence indicates that quality of life considerations (including community safety, housing, transportation, and culture and recreation) are increasingly vital in attracting new business investment to a region.

“This requires continued public fiscal support for top-quality public services.”

Other major findings included:

• Four sectors in which public provision is especially important (including health care, education, public administration and safety, and transportation) account for 35% of total Hunter employment, and 85% of net job growth, in the past five years;
• State-funded services alone account for almost 30,000 direct full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in the region, making this sector the largest single employer in the Hunter. Those services add more than $3 billion per year to regional GDP;
• State-funded service providers in the Hunter (including hospitals and schools) purchase some $1.3 billion worth of “upstream” inputs, materials, supplies and services from private businesses in the public sector supply chain;
• Consumer spending by state public service workers in the Hunter (and those in the supply chain) adds $1.75 billion to the sales of consumer goods and services businesses, most of them located right in this region;
• For every 10 direct jobs in state-funded public services, there are another five indirect jobs in upstream supply chain and downstream consumer industries. In total, 45,000 regional jobs (public and private) depend on continued provision of high-quality state public services; and
• Public sector jobs are an especially important source of work and income for women. Females account for 64% of jobs in major Hunter public sector industries. The gender wage gap in public services is much smaller (12% for full-time ordinary earnings) than in the private sector.

Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said it was time “we had a state government that commits to investing in our region”.

“Not only do public services improve our living standards and attract investment into our communities, but they vitally bolster economic activity in our regional communities,” he explained.

“Years of instability have proven how essential a strong public sector is and the value it generates for the entire community in times of both crisis and calm.

“When our state government sits back and watches the wages of nurses, paramedics, teachers and more drop, the entire community suffers.

“This report proves that funding public services is an essential component of ensuring the economic stability and prosperity of the Hunter.

“Investing in our public sector is a vital opportunity following COVID, further projected recession and the shifting of key industry in the region.”

NSW Teachers Federation regional organiser Jack Galvin Waight concurred.

“Public services, like our amazing Hunter TAFEs and public schools, are integral to the entire region,” the Hunter Workers vice-president said.

“Our families, communities and businesses depend on them.

“All told, public service delivery in the Hunter supports $6 billion in annual economic activity and 44,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“In total, every 10 direct state service jobs in the Hunter support another five in the private sector.

“Public services also improve quality of life, our community and are an especially important source of work and income for women.”

Mr Galvin Waight said the NSW Government was undermining the benefits, while degrading the teaching profession and the quality and stability of public sector jobs in general.

“This research shows that needless austerity and pay caps threaten public services and the Hunter economy,” he stated.

“The teacher shortages in the Hunter and the cuts to TAFE are crippling our students’ learning and have led to a profession in crisis.

“Any government that no longer cares about the public sector and public education is not fit to govern.

“An investment in our students and teachers’ future is an investment in our future.”

NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union state secretary Leighton Drury said firefighters had been suffering from restrictive wages cap policy for a decade now.

“This means pay increases are not meeting the rising cost of living,” he added.

“Fire stations are being shut down due to lack of staff throughout the Hunter, just because this government wants to save a dollar.

“It’s time for a government that respects frontline workers.”

For more news stories:

• Residents encouraged to have their say on Dora Creek intersection
• Teacher shortages a significant problem in Hunter schools
• GoFundMe page set up to assist teen injured in Lake Mac bus crash

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