Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to pay tribute to Pauline Stevens, who is the manager of the Centrelink office at Wynnum, one of the eastern bayside suburbs of Brisbane, and to the staff of the Centrelink office. Last Wednesday, 14 October, I had the great privilege of attending a morning tea that the Centrelink office put on to present Pauline Stevens with an exemplary service award that had been initiated by the former Minister for Human Services, Senator Ian Campbell, in 2007, a tradition that is being carried on by the two human services ministers in the Rudd government, Senator the Hon. Joseph Ludwig and the Hon. Chris Bowen, who was in this chamber this evening. It is a great opportunity for the government and for us local members to pay tribute to the incredible hard work and dedication of Centrelink staff across the country.

I want to pay tribute in particular to the staff of Wynnum Centrelink. Pauline Stevens has worked for the Department of Human Services and the department of social security for some 20 years. The vast majority of her work has been in the southern bayside suburbs of Cleveland, Capalaba and Wynnum. I think Pauline is a perfect example of Centrelink staff. After 20 years of what many would consider to be a very difficult job at the coalface of providing government services, often not in easy circumstances, she continues to be a very enthusiastic and a very dedicated person who continues to care very much for both the people whom she serves as customers and the people who work for her. Indeed, when I was having a chat with several staff on the day of the morning tea, to a person they all praised Pauline and declared what a pleasant person she is to work for. We all know that in Centrelink offices it is absolutely important that the teams have a good manager who supports the staff and creates a good feeling amongst the teams. Pauline does that extremely well.

The bayside suburbs of Brisbane, in particular the southern ones of Wynnum and Manly, are very old suburbs of the city. They are also traditionally very working class suburbs with a number of people from very diverse backgrounds who bring with them a vibrancy and a sense of community that I do not think can be rivalled anywhere else. We know that at the same time those older areas also bring with them many challenges. There is a significant Indigenous population, there is a very high demand for public housing and affordable rental accommodation and there are many people with mental health problems and family difficulties. All of these issues are presented to the staff at the Wynnum Centrelink office every day. They deal with them in often very stressful circumstances and I can say that they deal with them very well.

We local members all know that often there can be tensions between our offices and Centrelink offices. Often we are the last port of call after people have gone to Centrelink and have tried to have their problem solved. They come to us because there is no other option. As I have said, often that can create some tensions and conflicts. But I am pleased to say that since being elected as the member for Bonner whenever I have been in touch with or approached the Centrelink office for assistance its staff have always been most helpful. It is important to note that while sometimes we may be trying to help people who unfortunately, for one reason or another, fall between the cracks there can be some frustration between the workers of our office and those of Centrelink. But it is really important, despite those frustrations sometimes emerging, that we work together and acknowledge that these Centrelink people are the people at the coalface delivering services that are so important to the local community. We make the policies and we make the laws but we rely upon Centrelink staff to implement them and to assist people wherever possible. I pay tribute to Pauline Stevens and her staff because at Wynnum Centrelink they do that extremely well. I would like to put on the public record my congratulations to them and also the fact that I believe that there is a very good working relationship between my office and Wynnum Centrelink and that the people of Wynnum benefit greatly from their hard work. (Time expired)