The NT government has backflipped on its wages policy for public servants, with an unpopular four-year pay freeze jettisoned amid union pressure. 

About 20,000 government employees will now be offered a compounding two per cent pay rise as a base for wage negotiations with their unions. 

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles denied it was a political decision caused by union pressure to end the pay freeze. 

She said it was her government responding to worsening economic conditions in the NT. 

“The cost of living in the NT has increased … Groceries and filing up the car, it has increased significantly each week,” she said Wednesday. 

“The position when we had the previous wages policy is a vastly different landscape to now. 

“It is appropriate to change our policy in acknowledgement of that.” 

The pay freeze was introduced in November 2020 in a bid to save more than $400 million amid ongoing territory government deficits and climbing debt levels. 

It was accepted by 57 per cent of employees but became increasingly unpopular as unions attempted to negotiate wage packages without success for their members. 

Teachers, firefighters and correctional officers were among the workers who took industrial action and protested on multiple occasions over the past six months. 

The NT’s public sector unions welcomed the news, saying the chief minister had listened to firefighters, teachers, dentists, nurses, power and correctional officers. 

“This is a great day for public sector union workers who have campaigned hard and taken their anger to the streets,” Unions NT secretary Erina Early said. 

“We have won the battle to lose the freeze and now our members can now properly negotiate their conditions of employment”. 

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro called on the government to negotiate fairly under the new policy, saying the territory had already lost too many public servants to higher-paying jobs in southern states. 

“Now they’ve made the humiliating backflip, we call on the government to negotiate in good faith, instead of throwing public servants ‘take it or leave it’ offers,” she said. 

“We can’t afford to lose more good teachers and police.” 

Meanwhile, the NT government also said it remained focused on returning the budget to surplus in the medium term. 

“Budget 2022 forecasts a general government net operating deficit of $253 million in 2022-23,” a spokesman said. 

“An improvement of $283 million compared to the position forecasted in last year’s budget, and in aggregate is forecast to improve by nearly $1.4 billion over the four years.” 

With AAP

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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