Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the shadow minister says, what is he going to do about it? When it comes to other payments, the government will not tell us how big the backlog is, but we know that the processing time is increasing.

The problems at Centrelink are no secret to the staff who work there. I want to talk about the staff, because you, Minister, are doing those staff a great disservice. How can they be expected to assist people in the community when they have waited over 28 months for the government to come to the table with a decent workplace agreement—one that includes domestic violence leave if they need it? Even though customer service standards are falling and people are increasingly unable to gain access to the system, we also know that the government is cutting another 1,000 jobs—

Opposition members: What!

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