Steven Miles has flagged the Queensland government has no impetus to change current flexible working arrangements for the public sector.

It follows comments from NSW Premier Chris Minns, who said a return to office and face-to-face work was a “long time coming”, four-years after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Minns said his government’s directive was about “building up a culture in the public service that’s about teamwork, a common and shared sense of purpose, as well as mentoring the next generation of young public servants.”

Queensland – the most decentralised state in the nation – will not adopt the same route, with Mr Miles backing flexibility in public service work.

“We don’t have any plans at this stage to change the current arrangements,” Mr Miles said on Thursday.

“I understand New South Wales is in a somewhat different position to Queensland.

“Our economy continues to be strong, our CBD has come back more strongly and, of course, as of this week, we’re starting to see public transport usage closer to those pre-COVID levels.

“Those arrangements are generally based on negotiations in each workplace and based on the needs of each workplace.”

A Tourism and Transport Forum report into CBD visitation earlier this year showed Perth was the most recovered capital city for workers.

Brisbane’s CBD only trails Melbourne and Sydney on weekend visitation, exceeding both on every other metric.

Treasurer Cameron Dick has also budgeted belt-tightening of the public service in 2024/25 in a bid to save $3 billion over four years.

The government is set to establish a task force to look at reducing government travel, advertising and accommodation expenditure.

The use of external consultants, contractors and labour hire will also be targeted.

Mr Dick insisted there would be no public sector job losses, with budget papers indicating an 8000-strong boost to the state’s public service over the next year, blowing out the workforce total to 267,000 people.