Liberal Senate candidate Nick Tyrrell has accused Finance Minister Katy Gallagher of backing long-term Australian Public Service job cuts, citing Parliamentary Budget Office analysis of Labor’s Budget.

Mr Tyrrell said the analysis projected the APS would fall from 217,256 employees today to about 189,000 by 2029-30 and 176,000 by the mid-2030s.

He claimed that amounted to 41,000 fewer public servants over a decade and challenged Senator Gallagher to explain how the projected reductions aligned with previous criticism of Coalition proposals to cut public service jobs.

Mr Tyrrell said Senator Gallagher, as Finance Minister, Public Service Minister and an ACT senator, should explain whether the government intended to reduce APS staffing to those levels or whether the Budget surplus depended on the forecast reductions.

Mr Tyrrell said Canberra businesses and households would bear the impact if the projected workforce reductions eventuated.

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