Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to begin my contribution with a weather report, if I may. It was minus seven degrees in Canberra this morning, and it was 24 degrees warmer in paradise this morning, so—

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Sunshine Coast?

Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What was it in Townsville?

Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In Townsville, it was a minimum of 17 degrees, and the maximum will be a delightful 26 degrees today. The moral of the story, for anyone listening to this, is that if you want to be warm, if you want to go to paradise, go to Townsville—a great city, the capital city of Northern Australia. Last Monday, I was privileged to open Centrelink’s new customer service centre and call centre in Townsville, and I want to report to the parliament that it is undoubtedly the best service centre and call centre in the entire Commonwealth of Australia.

Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about Cooma?

Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The new facility has about 400 staff. It is state of the art, absolutely modern, and head and shoulders above Cooma. I think that the member for Eden-Monaro should not mislead the parliament this morning. I pay tribute to Peter Searston, the Centrelink area manager for central and northern Queensland, for his leadership in developing such a magnificent new facility for Townsville and Thuringowa.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It would not be there without you, would it?

Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, it would not be there without me. I also pay tribute to an unsung hero, Rick Finerty, the call centre manager, who, of course, takes calls from all over Australia, including from Eden-Monaro, Rankin and Fisher. It is a great call centre and something that we can all be proud of. The Centrelink customer service centre continues the government’s commitment to providing a range of government services under one roof to help Australians reach their goals and full potential.

I remember from years ago the old Department of Social Security. Centrelink these days is a customer service organisation without parallel. In fact, many people in private business remark to me that, if they could run their businesses as well as Centrelink does in a customer service sense, they would have a great business. Isn’t that a great tribute to what the government has been able to do, in encouraging Centrelink to be so strongly customer focused? Certainly, I have that service in my electorate. I hope that all of my colleagues have the same service in their electorate.

It is an exciting time for Centrelink. They are helping to manage the government’s new reforms to the welfare system for working-age Australians. There will be a huge challenge in that and, of course, they will manage the access card arrangements when they are implemented for the benefit of all Australians. Congratulations to the staff at the Townsville Centrelink centre.