So far this year (2026) in Victoria, the following have either gone on strike or announced strike action – teachers, health care workers, local government workers and parks workers. Further strike action by public sector workers could have taken place or are planned in other States.
This raises the question of what action should be taken that would be in the interests of society, the people in effect paying their salaries.
A Classic Liberals government will ensure that the following core principles should govern striking workers and their wage demands:
One of them is that both sides, the public sector workers and those representing the public, should recognise whose money pays the public sector.
Many of us mistakenly think that government creates its own money and so the amount it pays staff is of no concern to the general population. We (the taxpayer, consumer, investor and ratepayer) fund government. We do so by paying income tax, capital gains tax, GST, property taxes, fuel taxes, alcohol taxes, and so on and so on. Some may think that if government doesn’t collect enough in taxes to meet its expenses, it just prints more. It can and does do it – it can print more notes, it can digitally create more money, and it can borrow from local and foreign investors – but this additional supply of money fed into the marketplace has the effect of increasing prices. So, what you can buy with your money, for each $100, reduces. To buy the same goods as before, you now need more money. Hence, when government borrows or otherwise creates more money, it costs you. We should therefore be concerned, very concerned, with how government spends our money. If government lived within its means, revenues greater than expenses over the period, there would be no inflation and if government reduced its costs, delivering a surplus, it could reduce the taxes it collects from us. So, we need to ensure that government does not waste our money or overpay staff.
Another core principle is that nobody is compelled to work in the public sector, nor does anyone have a right to work in the public sector.
A third principle is that public sector workers should not be in a more privileged position than private sector workers. When private sector workers feel that are being under paid, they look for other employment. Public sector workers should do the same.
The fourth is that while public sector workers have a right to strike for higher pay and the right to resign, the public should have the right to refuse their demands and terminate their employment.
Recognising these principles, a Classic Liberals government would change the system to one where the job positions of any public sector workers who take strike action, will become immediately ‘vacant’. The department head (or school principal) concerned can decide whether to readvertise for the positions or reemploy the striking workers.
Another, related, issue needs to be considered and dealt with. It arises because the Labour Party, being heavily dependent on union support, sings to their tune. As soon as Labour wins an election, the unions want a payback for their financial and other support – they want salary and wage increases for their members and get it. If in government and an election is coming up, the unions want salary and wage increases locked in before the election and have those increases, annual increases, locked in for a few years. So, even if Labour loses the election, the new government cannot change the salary increases agreed by labour before they lost office. That should not be permitted. Classic Liberals will solve this problem by ensuring that public sector salary increases are set annually at the same time of the year, shortly before the end of the financial year, for the next year. A government should not have the right to, for example, agree on a 5% per annum increase over the next 4 years.