Judith Sloan has a fantastic column in the Australian today on yesterday’s Fair Work Australia decision to grant large pay rises to social and community services (SACS) workers, in which she notes the budgetary costs to State Governments:

Another unsavoury aspect of this case was the complete contempt the federal government has showed the state governments, which by and large employ or fund SACS workers. Without consultation, the federal government announced its intention to tip in $2 billion to help fund the pay rises. The state governments were effectively goaded to match this sum.

No doubt the decision will annoy Queensland Treasury, as it’s another hit to the budget that will make it harder for Queensland to improve its budget balance and eventually regain a AAA credit rating.