The Turnbull government has launched another attack on Canberra and its local economy with the latest round of public service job cuts, according to local Labor politicians.
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Fairfax Media revealed on Wednesday that between 300 and 800 jobs are set to be slashed from the Immigration Department and The Australian Border Force, with many of the axed positions expected to be among the 5500-strong Canberra-based workforce.
Local Labor politicians reacted angrily to the news with ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr pledging to write to the Prime Minister urging him to reconsider the cuts.
Immigration says it is being force to cull public servants after its budget was cut by $116 million, or nearly 5 per cent, in the 2016-17 financial year and that voluntary redundancies will begin to be offered by late October.
But ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja hit back at his Labor opponents, criticising their own record on public service employment.
"When Andrew Leigh and Labor were last in office they cut 14,500 Commonwealth public service jobs and unemployment rose in the ACT dramatically," Senator Seselja said.
Fenner MP Andrew Leigh said the latest round of cuts was reminiscent of the Tony Abbott years in what Dr Leigh called an "attack on the fabric" of the capital.
Mr Barr said the Liberal Party could not help itself.
"Despite his predecessor's firm personal commitment that the cuts would stop, today the Prime Minister proved that when it comes to sacking Canberrans, Liberals can't help themselves," the Chief Minister said.
"After cutting thousands of jobs and putting huge strain on the Canberra businesses that rely on them, the Commonwealth now plans to sneak the Murray Darling Basin Authority out of Canberra in the dead of night to shore up a regional seat, while cutting hundreds of jobs at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection."
The authority said on Wednesday there were no plans to move jobs out of the capital, and its recent announcement on "decentralisation" was about increasing its regional presence.
Dr Leigh reacted to the news of the Immigration cuts on Wednesday by accusing the Prime Minister of being "fixated" on attacking Canberra.
"After being hit by funding cuts and the threat of a move across town, now the jobs of Immigration staff are under serious [attack] from the Turnbull Government," the Labor frontbencher said.
"It is now clear that Malcolm Turnbull is just as fixated on attacking the fabric of Australia's capital city as was Tony Abbott. What will it take for this Government to recognise that a strong public service is in the national interest?"
