Productivity and Labour Relations Minister Yvonne Henderson has called on Opposition spokesman Graham Kierath to resign now over his hollow commitment concerning public servants.
Mrs Henderson said his commitment to resign if one public servant lost his or her job under a Liberal Western Australian government was a dishonest effort to hoax voters.
"Maybe he knows he would not be the Minister responsible for industrial relations in a Liberal government," Mrs Henderson said.
"Whoever would be the Minister could not possibly reconcile public service job security with the Liberal commitment to privatise four Government agencies.
"The agencies under threat - State Print, the Building Management Authority, State Ships and the Hospital Laundry and Linen Service - provide jobs for 2,000 people," Mrs Henderson said.
"The Opposition obviously could not maintain those jobs - unless they are happy to have taxpayers pay for those employees to sit around twiddling their thumbs.
"They also talk about 'streamlining' the Health and Education Departments - how are they going to do that without sacking workers or paying them to do nothing?
"They cannot have it both ways. The Liberals are promising smaller government and cost-cutting in one breath and giving guarantees that no Government jobs will be lost in the next.
"It has a very distinct Kennett ring to it."
Mrs Henderson said Government employees around Australia had been chilled by the Kennett government's pre-emptive and brutal axing of public sector jobs in Victoria.
The Liberals there had axed 15,000 jobs in the first round of cold cuts.
"Workers in education, health and transport have lost their jobs," Mrs Henderson said.
"Yesterday they announced thousands more jobs would be slashed in a second round of public sector redundancies.
"The Liberals in Victoria could not reduce services to their people without axing jobs - and nor could the Liberals in Western Australia.
"If Mr Kierath is putting his job on the line over the Liberals' impossible promises, he should resign immediately."
