Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Congratulations, Mr Deputy Speaker. You are one of the parliament's true gentlemen.

In the lead-up to an election there is always an element of uncertainty in the economy for businesses small and large, who wonder what a change of government might mean for them. But this level of uncertainty is nothing compared to the uncertainty that has prevailed in my electorate of Canberra since this government came to power. Since the election, Canberra has been faced with rolling announcements of Public Service job cuts, but no detail on exactly when and where the axe will fall.

Prior to the election, the coalition promised that it would only cut jobs by natural attrition. However, since the election there have been redundancies rolled out across at least five departments. But there has been no word from the government on why the change in policy and what this means for the Public Service. Prior to the election the coalition promised to move whole government agencies outside Canberra. But so far there has been no word on who is moving where and when, leaving Canberrans wondering whether their job is secure and whether they are about to be asked to relocate and whether they are going to have to move their children in the middle of a school term. So far, this government has delivered nothing but uncertainty for Canberra and Canberrans. Today I ask it to answer just one question: how many of my constituents are going to lose their job by Christmas?