Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is an important motion, because, as we all know, when we talk about Services Australia, what we're actually talking about is the Australian people and those that need access to funds, whether it's the disability support pension, a low-income card or the age pension. These are Australia's most vulnerable who are needing support. I am sure every member in this house and many senators—I got an email today actually from a constituent who'd been trying to call Centrelink and hadn't been able to get through. They reached out to my office wanting support because they'd been unable to get the support they needed. Australians at their most vulnerable are looking to the government and looking for support.

Let's understand, as with many things with Albanese Labor government, what they said before the election versus the reality of today. Let's have a look at what the then opposition leader and the then shadow minister said. They said they would 'restore dignity, humanity and competence to the delivery of government services'. That's what they claimed two and a half years ago. We're now a good chunk into the Albanese Labor government, so we can look at some data and compare what they said they'd do with what they've done, and compare that to the former coalition government.

Let's look at something like disability support pension payments, which were taking an average of 40 days to process under the coalition. Under Labor, that has more than doubled to 93 days. Let's look at the age pension. Under the coalition, it was 35 days; now, under Labor, it's 76 days. Let's look at the low-income card. Under the coalition, there was a 16-day wait period; now, under Labor, it's 53 days. The average time to answer Centrelink calls, based on the department's own data, is over 30 minutes. You now have to wait 30 minutes to have your call answered—if you're lucky enough to have it answered—under this government. Compare that to the 14-minute wait under the coalition. That's why those opposite are so frustrated and needing to interject on previous speakers. They know that the statistics and the data from the department don't match the reality for the Australian people.

Let's look at customer satisfaction in the 2023-24 year. The target was 85 out of 100, and they hit 79.1. Customers served within 15 minutes: the target was 70 per cent; under this government it hit 55.2 per cent. Work processed within the timeliness standards—it's very important, as we know, that those that are most vulnerable get looked after in a timely way. The standard is 90 per cent; under this government, it's 71.8 per cent. And the official data confirms that only 58 per cent of Centrelink claims were processed within their respective timeliness standards, and that's including things like the age pension, the disability support pension and the low-income card.

This is why we are seeing the challenges that the Australian people are facing, whether it's the cost of living, where we have the Treasurer stand up day after day in question time and tell the Australian people that they've never had it better, when they're struggling more than ever; whether it is roads, where they're saying, 'We're investing billions in roads,' and every Victorian who drives on a road, particularly in a regional and rural road in my community and many other communities, knows there are potholes everywhere; or whether it's Services Australia, where the government promised to 'restore dignity, humanity and competence to the delivery of government services'—a nice line, but they haven't delivered on it, based on their own data in the Services Australia 2023-24 annual report.

That sums up the two and a half years of the Albanese Labor government. The Prime Minister, when he was opposition leader, promised the world to the Australian people. He promised that he could solve the challenges they faced, with the cost of living and with Services Australia. He made it sound so easy. The Prime Minister made many promises that he has not delivered on, and two and half years into the Albanese Labor government Australians know they're worse off. They know they'll be worse off into the future. They know that this is a prime minister who is weak and will not deliver for the Australian people.

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