The millionaire founder of Jim’s Mowing has demanded 1.7million workers be sacked from the public sector in order to make the government more efficient.
Jim Penman claimed the country’s bureaucracy was being crippled by ‘massive inefficiency’ and ‘unaccountability’.
‘I cannot comprehend how the public service works. It’s so, so bloated,’ Mr Penman told news.com.au.
‘People are unsackable. It doesn’t matter how badly they perform. There is no concern about efficiency whatsoever.
‘My best estimate is you could probably cut bureaucracy by two-thirds and you’d have a much better functioning government.’
Mr Penman, who built a multi-million-dollar franchise network that now includes more than 50 services such as cleaning and dog washing, has long been outspoken on issues of government overreach and inefficiency.
He famously led hundreds of his franchisees in an unsuccessful class action against the Victorian government during the Covid lockdowns, cementing his status as a vocal critic of government regulation.
There are currently 2.6million public sector jobs as of June 2025, an all-time high.
Jim Penman (pictured) says government workers are ‘unsackable’ and there is no concern about efficiency within departments
‘The cost is just unimaginable. We just have no idea how much we’re impoverished by this garbage that goes on,’ he said.
Mr Penman’s proposal would slash the number of government workers to less than one million.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, nearly one in six Australians (18.3 per cent) is employed by the government, with a notable increase in public sector job creation post-pandemic.
By comparison, countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark see 30 per cent of their workforce in public service roles, but Mr Penman isn’t convinced that Australia needs to follow this model.
While Australia’s public sector employment rate is actually below the global average, Mr Penman argues it’s become dangerously inflated post-Covid, with the government creating jobs at a pace far outstripping the private sector.
New figures from the Australian Industry Group (AIG) show that in the years after the pandemic, over 80 per cent of new jobs created in 2023 and 2024 were in the non-market sector, primarily within government-funded programs like the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Mr Penman’s stance is clear: too many public sector jobs drag down productivity and crowd out private sector hiring, stalling the economy.
As the economy wrestles with inflation, interest rates, and the lingering effects of the pandemic, Mr Penman argues that government-supported jobs have become a drain on the nation’s economic potential.
Millionaire businessman Jim Penman has called for a dramatic overhaul, demanding the public service be slashed by two-thirds
AIG’s Chief Executive, Innes Wilcox, echoed Mr Penman’s concerns, noting while the ‘welcome decline’ in government-supported jobs in 2025 marks a significant shift, the private sector has yet to fill the void.
Wilcox said Australia needed to get back to the historical norm where the vast majority of jobs are created in the private sector.
‘It is imperative that governments work to raise private sector investment and hiring levels, so the labour market gets back into balance and employment opportunities for Australians continue to grow and diversify.’
Last year, Mr Penman posted a series of X messages declaring he was seriously considering running as a Victorian state election candidate in 2026.
He also hinted he could launch ‘The Jim’s Party’ in an audacious bid for power, with himself as premier, which would require him to first win a lower house seat.
‘This is a party designed to take over state government in Victoria, to become the ruling coalition in state government with myself as premier. The number one crisis in Victoria right now is housing,’ he said.
‘Housing costs are perhaps the one area where community disgust may actually make change possible.’
‘State politics is really the place to be, since this is the source of policies that force up the price of housing and cripple the economy with senseless regulations.’
