Public service struggled to meet $1.5b savings target

By March, the majority of “low-hanging savings” had been found and further cuts risked reductions in service levels. (Image: Getty)

Jem Traylen

Fri, 13 Sep 2024

Just-released papers outline the difficulties the Government had in making spending cuts in this year's Budget.When ministers returned from their Christmas break at the start of this year, they were told that more than half of the baseline savings target for Budget 2024 was in doubt, just months before the fiscal plans were finalised.On Thursday, the Treasury released most of its Budget advice papers, depicting a public service struggling to achieve a $1.5 billion savings target that ministers had signed off on.Most government agencies were...

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