Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is often a lot of misinformation in our communities about the role of Centrelink and where those Centrelink offices should be located. The location of Centrelink offices is based on the overall customer base and the current and projected demography of a local area. However, there are some people in my Palm Beach community who believe that our Centrelink office should be moved, as they believe the office attracts ‘undesirable people’. I refute that claim and I would like to put on the record today a short profile about the Palm Beach Centrelink office and the very significant role the office plays with regard to the economic benefits to our area and the very large number of services that are delivered to local residents.

Centrelink has a staff of 87 which is going to be increased to 95 or 96 next week. The annual wages coming into that office are around $6 million a year. Those staff use all our local services. But first some statistics about whom we look after through Centrelink there: 13,866 age pension customers and 18,700 family payment customers. Newstart and youth allowance customer numbers, at October 2006, have dropped to 1,794. That, of course, is in line with the low unemployment figures in the country, and it is certainly happening on the southern Gold Coast as well. I put on the record this morning that 21.6 per cent of Newstart and youth allowance customers have some employment, with over half of them earning close to a full-time wage. So they are productive members of our community. They do need some assistance through Centrelink, they are getting a top-up; but certainly they are contributing to our community.

The Centrelink office and staff at Palm Beach also provide services under one roof for 10 federal policy departments and have agreements in place for other services they deliver with a range of state organisations. They also provide specialist support and assistance to the local community through financial information services, social work services and support for families in crisis. Indigenous service officers work from this office. Multicultural services are offered. Community contact officers are there. The Centrelink office and staff have also been involved in providing assistance and services to those people caught up in the Bali bombings, the London bombing, Cyclone Larry, Cyclone Monica, the Katherine floods and, indeed, the floods on the Gold Coast.

So I would say to my Palm Beach residents: before we start firing shots or asking that this Centrelink office be moved, we need to sit back, take a cold shower and have a look at the services that are provided through that Centrelink office. If that office is moved on those services will be sorely missed by the aged in our community and our families.