Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I know that it is Valentine’s day, but be calm. I thank the member for Stirling for his question. I know that he, like everyone else in this House—and I am being generous to the Labor Party here—believes that we have to improve service quality in Centrelink offices to ensure that those who are seeking services are getting the services that they are entitled to.

It was brought to my attention early on in the ministry that in some cases Centrelink staff were taking as many days in unplanned absences as they were in holidays each year. This was having a profound effect on the staffing levels of the over 300 customer service centres across the Centrelink network.

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