The Albanese government would need to cut 28,000 jobs from the federal bureaucracy over the next four years to meet its forecast for the public sector wage bill, according to estimates by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Analysis of PBO costings shows that Labor must find an extra $11.8 billion in savings to prevent job cuts or another blowout in its already-stretched budget, which is buckling under the pressure of higher spending on defence, child care, the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the energy transition.
