Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this very important motion. Recently, the Treasurer suggested that the next election will be fought on the role of the government. Well, if this government has its way, there will be a public service so denuded that there's not much left to deliver any policy agenda, let alone for there to be a proper role for government. Much of this is because of the arbitrary ASL cap, an increase in outsourcing, with $2 billion spent on casual workers, and a commitment to using consultants instead of building up the capacity of our public service. Under this Liberal-National government, nearly 18,000 jobs have been cut from the public service since June 2013. Some 2,270 people lost their jobs from Services Australia in the last financial year alone. Nearly 4,000 full-time staff in roles at the ATO have gone since the coalition came to power. Cuts to Australia's Border Force patrols have occurred to save on fuel. There have been nearly $150 million in cuts to research funding for the CSIRO and other scientific agencies. The Bureau of Meteorology's local forecasting services have been cut and its budget reduced by $46 million over the next three years. Over 250 government bodies have been abolished, including pretty important bodies like the National Preventive Health Agency and the National Water Commission. The coalition has also tried and failed to abolish important agencies like the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Of course, we also had the coalition's attempts to privatise visa processing.

Under this government there has been a blowout in waiting times for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. There has been a blowout in waiting times for aged-care home packages. Core wait times for child support agencies have increased, and 48 million calls to Centrelink went unanswered in 2017-18. Of course, in my part of the world, the government tried to close the Mornington Centrelink and Medicare office and then had to extend it for six months when they saw the queues down the road as a result of the pandemic.

Of course, we know that there has been $200 million in cuts to the ABC and SBS, and over a thousand ABC staff members have had their jobs cut. This matters. The ABC matters in Australia. It is a public institution and a public service. Don't just take it from me; take it from Grant Coward, who lives in Seaford. This is from an email that he sent me and is more than happy for me to read out in the parliament: 'The following comments, if I may, are directed to the Liberal-National government in relation to the ABC. Stop emaciating the ABC and elect a board in which the country can have confidence. The $1.1 billion spent by Australian taxpayers is money well spent. Out of the $400 billion 2018 tax revenue received by the Commonwealth, spending of $1.1 billion on the ABC—

Mr Pasin interjecting—

I'm sorry, a member of the government is currently heckling Grant Coward, a constituent who is having his views put to the parliament. That's the view they have.

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