Jim Penman backs striking doctors: ‘Victoria is burning billions while frontline workers pay the price’

Jim's Group founder Jim Penman has thrown his support behind Victorian doctors taking industrial action for the first time in 20 years, declaring the State Government could afford to pay doctors, nurses, teachers and police significantly more if it stopped wasting billions of dollars on bureaucracy, debt and unnecessary spending.
 

Penman said doctors taking the extraordinary step of industrial action should be a wake-up call for the Victorian Labor Government.
 

Public hospital doctors have been fighting for improved pay and conditions after prolonged negotiations, with concerns including excessive workloads, fatigue, unpaid overtime and workforce shortages.
 

"If doctors are prepared to walk off the job for the first time in 20 years, something has gone seriously wrong," Penman said.
 

"These are the people we trust with our lives. Nurses look after us when we are at our most vulnerable, teachers educate our children and police officers put themselves in danger to protect us.
 

"Why is the Labor Government arguing about whether we can afford to pay them properly while they waste billions of dollars on bureaucracy, red tape, stupid decisions and interest payments?
 

"Not only does Victoria have a money problem, it has a priorities problem. Our state government is totally incompetent and has been burning through money like it grows on trees."
 

$8.9 billion a year, just in interest
 

Penman said the most extraordinary example of Victoria's financial mismanagement was the rapidly escalating cost of servicing State Government debt.
 

Victoria is forecast to spend approximately $8.9 billion on interest in 2026-27 alone, with the annual interest bill forecast to reach $11.8 billion by 2029-30.
 

"That $8.9 billion doesn't employ a single additional doctor. It doesn't put another nurse beside a hospital bed, it doesn't put another teacher in a classroom or another police officer on the street," Penman said.

"It is money going out the door because successive governments have failed to control debt. Imagine what even a fraction of $8.9 billion could do for our hospitals, schools and police."
 

Cut bureaucracy and put the money on the frontline
 

Penman said if you look at Victorian public-sector workforce growth it shows there are around 22,000 more public servants than when Labor came to office in 2014, which he estimates represents an annual employment cost of approximately $3.5 billion to $4 billion.
 

He said redirecting expenditure of that magnitude towards frontline services could transform Victoria.
 

"Take $4 billion out of unnecessary bureaucracy and put it where Victorians actually need it," Penman said.
 

"That kind of money could help fund around 20 per cent more doctors and nurses while contributing towards substantial pay increases for doctors, nurses, teachers and police.
 

"That is the conversation we should be having.
 

"Government should exist to deliver services to people. Instead, by voting in the wrong governments, the people of Victoria have allowed the administration surrounding those services to become an industry in itself."
 

Pay the people who do the essential work
 

Penman said he strongly supports better pay for essential frontline workers and believes taxpayers would overwhelmingly prefer their money directed towards hospitals, schools and community safety.
 

"I am a businessman, I believe in efficiency. This is the only way businesses survive, by getting value for every dollar you spend and this is now governments should be run as well but we all know they are not," Penman said.
 

"Efficiency doesn't mean underpaying the people doing the most important jobs, in fact it means the exact opposite.
 

"If someone is saving lives, nursing the sick, educating our children or protecting the community, I want them well paid. I want good people fighting to get into those professions, not exhausted people fighting to get out."
 

"Doctors should never have been pushed this far. Clearly, they are at their wits end and striking is the only way they can let people know how difficult things are for them."
 

Penman said doctors had every right to demand action over conditions that they believe are unsustainable.
 

Reports surrounding the dispute have highlighted concerns about fatigue, excessive workloads and unpaid overtime, with doctors warning of the potential consequences for staff retention and patient care.
 

"This isn't simply about doctors wanting a bigger pay packet," Penman said.

"When highly trained doctors are talking about exhaustion, unpaid work and unsustainable workloads, people need to listen.

"A health system cannot be run indefinitely on goodwill, overtime and exhausted people. Doctors should never have been pushed to the point where they believed industrial action was their only remaining option."
 

Government needs to decide what matters
 

Penman said the dispute exposed a much bigger question about government priorities.
 

"We collect enormous amounts of tax in Victoria. The question isn't whether the money exists, it should be about where it goes," he said.
 

"If government wastes money, blows out projects, builds unnecessary bureaucracy and then racks up so much debt that billions must be spent every year servicing it, eventually somebody has to pay.
 

"Right now, our essential workers and taxpayers are paying the price. Stop telling doctors, nurses, teachers and police that there isn't enough money.
 

"Cut the waste and cut the bureaucracy. Get the debt under control and pay the people who actually keep Victoria running what they deserve.
 

"I back the doctors."

About Jim's Group
 

Jim's Group was founded by Jim Penman in 1989 and now has some 5,700 franchisees in more than 50 divisions. It is the largest franchise chain in the Southern Hemisphere.
 

A digital clone of Jim can be found at this site or at jimpenman.com.au, which is able to answer questions about the research project and Jim's Group. More information about Jim's Group can be found at: https://jims.net