Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The performance of Services Australia is getting worse and worse under the member for Maribyrnong. The latest figures came out in Senate estimates in February. Call wait times continue to skyrocket. People who call the families and parenting line have seen call wait times more than double under Labor. Many Australians are waiting months for their claims to be processed, with the Albanese government offering few solutions. People applying for the low-income card are now waiting five times longer compared to when the coalition was in government.

It's bad all around Australia. People in Longreach are waiting 105 days on average to receive the age pension. Those in Wollondilly are waiting, on average, almost 81 days to receive the low-income card. The Coalition has been seeking this localised data for months. We now know why the member for Maribyrnong has been so reluctant to offer it, because it highlights his failures. It highlights the fact that Australians are waiting longer, even as they go through a cost-of-living crisis.

The member for Maribyrnong boasts about hiring more staff at Services Australia, but he's only provisioned funding until 30 June this year. I repeat my calls for there to be a root and branch review of Services Australia's operations to fix this mess and give Australians the service levels they deserve.