Mr. Huston questions the Premier about the disparity in staffing increases between marketing/HR and sworn police officers since 2020, given the upcoming budget. The Premier attributes public sector growth to overall economic growth.

AnsweredQoN 221Legislative Assembly
Asked
5 May 2026
Portfolio
Premier

QuestionView source ↗

Public sector—Staffing
221. Mr Jonathan Huston to the Premier:
With the
government's budget due this week, I refer again to the state of the WA public
sector. How can the government justify a 24% increase in marketing and
human resources staff since 2020, compared with a dismal 7% increase in
sworn police officers over the same period?

AnswerView source ↗

The public sector
continues to grow and the activities of the public sector continue to grow
because our economy has grown over 25% since 2019. We are in a period of
significant growth so obviously the services and the policies that people rely
on will increase in demand as well. It is not surprising that we see activity
right across the public sector growing at a commensurate rate.

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