The size of the public service features regularly in debates about privatisation and government debt, with solutions often focussing on staffing cuts.
Mr Leigh is on shaky ground. Measured by total employees, the Woolworths Group — including all of its Australian operations — employs more Australians than the federal public service. On the other hand, Woolworths supermarkets do not. The public service employed 152,095 people at the end of June 2017. This is the figure cited by Mr Leigh, which Fact Check accepts. When it comes to Woolworths, however, the numbers are less clear-cut. It appears the wider group employed around 183,500 people in Australia at the end of June 2017, while its Australian supermarkets currently employ 115,000 people. On that basis it is impossible to assess the data behind his claim. But in any case, experts contacted by Fact Check said the comparison makes little sense because it ignores substantial differences between public servants and retail workers, notably hours worked. They said a better measure would compare full-time equivalent staff, which takes these hours into account. The Commonwealth budget shows that in 2016-17 the federal public service employed 140,911 full-time equivalent staff. Woolworths declined to supply a full-time equivalent count. However, one can be estimated using retail industry data.
Fact check: Does the federal public service employ fewer people than Woolworths?
['None']