Peter Dutton's commitment to cut 41,000 public service jobs from Canberra puts key national security and defence jobs at risk.
Analysis by the CPSU has revealed that more than 19,300 of the 69,400 Canberra based public sector jobs - or almost 30% - are in Defence and national security agencies:*
| Agency | ACT Based Staff | % of agency staff in ACT |
| Department of Defence | 9,059 | 45.2% |
| Department of Home Affairs | 5,552 | 35.7% |
| Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission | 464 | 53.6% |
| Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre | 116 | 18.9% |
| Office of National Intelligence | 425 | 100.0% |
| Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security | 47 | 100.0% |
| Australian Signals Directorate** | 3,014 | 82.6% |
| Defence Housing Australia | 209 | 32.1% |
| Australian Submarine Agency | 417 | 66.2% |
| Total in the above agencies | 19,303 |
The CPSU is calling on Peter Dutton to come clean with Australian voters, before election day, and outline which agencies these cuts are going to come from.
Quotes attributable to Melissa Donnelly, CPSU National Secretary
"Peter Dutton is making promises he knows he can't keep - claiming he can cut 41,000 public service jobs without touching national security, defence or frontline services. But the numbers make that impossible.
"Defence and Home Affairs are the largest public sector employers in Canberra. Nearly one in three public servants in the ACT works directly in defence or national security.
"That's why Peter Dutton keeps changing his story - the numbers just don't add up and he knows it.
"Australians should be deeply concerned that Peter Dutton is refusing to say which jobs, which agencies and which services will be cut.
"If he really believed Australians would back this plan, he'd be upfront about the consequences. Instead, he's asking for a blank cheque.
"Australians cannot trust Peter Dutton to protect national security, frontline services, or the public sector jobs that deliver for our communities every day."
30 April 2025
