Liberal senator Eric Abetz wants to see “leadership” in the form of large public sector cuts.

Senator Abetz - who was employment minister under former prime minister Tony Abbott – says the public sector has grown again, after his efforts to cut almost 10,000 staff.

“As a Liberal, I believe the Government should always be on the lookout to reduce the size of government and the size of expenditure,” he said.

“One place where I believe the Government could provide some leadership is in the reduction of the public service.

“Whilst I was the minister responsible, we were able to get a reduction of some 14,000 in the Australian Public Service through natural attrition.

“Sadly, that has increased in recent years, and I believe that is one area where savings can be made without any need for legislation.

“Given that the growth has been around ... the 4,000 mark, I would like to think we can reduce the Australian Public Service by ... about another 4,000.

“[That] translates out to be about $400 million per annum each and every year.”

Senator Abetz was the last Tasmanian in the federal cabinet, before until he was dropped in Malcolm Turnbull’s first reshuffle.

He is now making himself known again.

Senator Abetz has also floated the idea of setting up a small claims-type tribunal to handle Australian Taxation Office disputes with small businesses.

“The Australian Taxation Office has at its disposal an army of legal experts and a budget that can never be matched by small business,” he said.

“What small business needs is [something] like a small claims tribunal to enable taxation matters to be resolved in a fair and amicable way where mistakes have occurred, where there is a small dispute.”