Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Schools) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday I was very pleased to be invited to an important meeting organised by the Community and Public Sector Union. This meeting kicked off a campaign in Melbourne to fight Centrelink privatisation. I was joined there not only by a number of CPSU members and activists but by a very wide range of concerned members of society, concerned about this issue and its impact not just on these workers but on Australia. This is a campaign that we have to recognise has many important dimensions. It's about decent work—decent, secure work for those directly employed by Centrelink, also having regard to the interests of those people presently employed in labour hire arrangements. It's also about us as members of parliament acknowledging the extraordinary work those people who assist our constituents with Centrelink inquiries do. It's something that I am deeply appreciative of on behalf of the people of Scullin.

I was pleased to be at this meeting with so many Melburnians, because this argument about Centrelink, this argument about how our public services are supported, is really an argument about our social compact—how we treat one another, how we should treat one another. This is a campaign that I am proud to support and that I will do all I can to support in this place and in the community. In doing so, can I acknowledge Rupert Evans and Eleanor Kennedy and all those who participated in kicking off a vital campaign.