Australia’s opposition party has pledged to crack down on “unsustainable” remote working arrangements in the civil service, vowing to force public sector workers back into the office full time if it is elected later this year.
The move drew condemnation and comparisons with Donald Trump, who has pushed government employees to return to offices or accept redundancy since he returned to the US presidency in January.
Jane Hume, a senator and shadow minister for finance for the opposition Liberal party, said that her party would force Australian public servants to be in the office five days a week — a reversal of the Labor government’s agreement with unions that protects remote working entitlements.