FED: Rudd's staff not overworked, says ex-union offical Shorten

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2008
FED: Rudd's staff not overworked, says ex-union offical Shorten

CANBERRA, Dec 7 AAP - Kevin Rudd hasn't been pushing his staff too hard, according
to workers' advocate turned federal Labor MP Bill Shorten.

The prime minister's staff are said to be so overworked many of them are leaving.

About 40 per cent of new appointments to his private office since last December have
quit, while his deputy Julia Gillard has lost nearly 50 per cent, Fairfax reports.

About a quarter of all ministerial staffers appointed between December last year and
October this year have fled.

But Mr Shorten, who headed up the Australian Workers' Union for seven years before
being elected to parliament last year, says Mr Rudd isn't too tough on his staff.

"I don't think people have been worked too hard," Mr Shorten told Sky News.

"They (staff) haven't been lost, people have moved jobs."

It was inevitable that after winning government the nucleus of Labor's highly-trained
staff "would spread from the leader's office into other ministers' offices."

"Also it's inevitable there's churn in a modern workplace where people get promoted."

The idea that the government has misplaced 40 per cent of its staff and can't find
them is not correct, he said.

The Victorian MP said down the corridor from Labor's ministerial offices, Malcolm Turnbull
had sacked all of former opposition leader Brendan Nelson's staff when he took over the
Liberals' top job.

"100 per cent, (they) all lost their jobs."

AAP jcd/rl/wf

KEYWORD: RUDD STAFF SHORTEN

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