Public service job cuts continue with 30 more redundancies

Queensland's public servants fear a second wave of retrenchments after confirmation that 30 positions were quietly abolished in the Environment Portfolio three weeks ago.

The 30 jobs lost in the Environment and Heritage Protection include policy advisors in the areas of water management and koala protection, as well as general conservation area staff.

Environment Minister Andrew Powell's office failed to answer questions on Monday night.

The retrenchment of two koala specialists were confirmed by the minister on October 2, and Fairfax Media has learnt that 30 positions have been made redundant overall.

While some staff volunteered for the redundancies, many who were forced from their positions were devastated believing their work was crucial to future planning.

On January 14 Premier Campbell Newman said there would be no further public service job cuts other than the 14,000 identified in 2012.

"I am ruling out going over 14,000," Mr Newman told reporters.

However, Together Union secretary Alex Scott said redundancies were continuing and he expected them to increase now the federal election campaign was over.

"Certainly there was a pause prior to the federal election - for obvious reasons - but since that has happened, the handbrake has been released and a number of agencies are looking at cutting jobs," he said.

Mr Scott said union members had been warned further jobs were likely to go in Queensland Health, the TAFE education sector, public works and disability accommodation.

"Part of them being privatisation and part of them being simple jobs cuts," he said.

"Clearly the evidence is that they are continuing to cut jobs, but they are just not doing them by ministerial media release.

"The government has worked out that the community is deeply angry about the cuts and so they are doing everything they can not to talk about them."

Mr Newman told Queensland Government Estimates Hearings on July 16 that the total number of public services positions shed was 13,827.

"When we took office there were 204,199 full-time-equivalent employees across the 20 departments," Mr Newman told the hearing.

He said on June 14, 2013 there were 190,372.

"That is a total reduction of 13,827. I again reiterate that that was not a decision that was easy to make," he said.

Mr Newman said the public service job reductions were part of the process to slow "cost of living" increases, down from an average 8.9 per cent increase to a 1.1 per cent increase.

The same month Treasurer Tim Nicholls asked each government department to contribute $100 million in savings each year, for each of the next three years.

That money is to pay for Queensland's recovery for its natural disasters in 2011 and 2013.

The Environment and Heritage Protection portfolio's share of the $100 million in savings was $4.5 million.

Staff believe they have been cut to make up for the inability of the Environment Department to find the $4.5 million in savings in other areas.

Despite the department being closely scrutinised a spokesman for Energy and Water Supply minister Mark McArdle said there were no plans for redundancies in their portfolio.