Imagine if you were told that your parental leave payments would take longer to be processed just when your newborn baby arrives, along with the unavoidable expenses that they bring.

That after working hard for your entire life, phone calls to activate your Age Pension would leave you waiting on hold, or simply go unanswered.

Or after serving our country in the Defence Force, critical support to help you and your family would be delayed – for well over a year.

You don’t have to imagine it, because that’s exactly what people across Eden-Monaro experienced under the former Liberals and Nationals Government’s mismanagement of the Australian Public Service.

The Liberals kept an artificial cap on public servant numbers but employed a 54,000 strong shadow workforce, costing billions more per year.

Their approach delivered worse services – including the 42,000 veteran claims backlog, not to mention Robodebt and the PWC scandal.

The Albanese Labor Government cleaned up this mess when we came to government.

We improved service delivery times, including veteran claim assessments allocated within two weeks, and secured better outcomes for people in our community.

Cuts to services are guaranteed again should Peter Dutton win this election, because as recently as today, the Opposition Leader confirmed the Liberals would cut 41,000 public service jobs.

This is around the size of Queanbeyan’s population, and it has sent shockwaves across our community.

People are not only anxious about the services and support they rely on being cut, but are worried about the flow on effect to small businesses in our community.

Rightly so, given Eden-Monaro is home to one of the largest numbers of public servants in the country.
Cutting these jobs would have a devastating impact on regional economies, businesses and our way of life.

This would hurt communities like Bungendore, Braidwood, Cooma, Goulburn, Marulan, Queanbeyan, Yass, and right down to the coast.

We’re in the dark about how many jobs at the Defence call centre in Cooma or at HQJOC outside of Bungendore could be slashed – or if Services Australia centres at Bega or Goulburn will be forced to reduce their hours or services.

Cutting jobs, outsourcing, under-resourcing, and throwing away the key entirely is what we were used to under the former government – and a repeat of this would leave our community worse off.

We felt this public service neglect deeply during the 36 declared natural disasters in Eden-Monaro since 2016 in particular – we know what it’s like when disaster assistance is too slow, and when disaster policy ignores the needs of our community.

Having been through the Black Summer Bushfires, I know how important it is that when you need support, you get it – without having to jump up and down.

That’s why I’m proud the Albanese Labor Government brought on 3,500 additional staff at Services Australia to clear payment backlogs and to process critical disaster assistance without delay.

Labor established the National Emergency Management Agency to ensure communities are not only supported through disaster response and recovery arrangements, but are better prepared – including under our $1 billion Disaster Ready Fund.

We don’t want to see cuts to critical services and support, but the Shadow Emergency Management Minister confirmed the future of the National Emergency Management Agency’s 425 staff is yet to be decided.

After everything we’ve been through in recent years – from natural disasters to the pandemic, cutting 41,000 jobs from the public service would be a new kind of disaster for our community.

Announcing these cuts without any detail was reckless, following through would be even more reckless – but that’s exactly what Peter Dutton has said he will do, because the Liberals have cut before, and they will again.

This would leave thousands of families worse off and would cripple our regional economies – thanks to fewer coffees, lunches and dinners being bought at our fantastic local cafes and restaurants.

Labor values the hard work of our public service and what it delivers locally – but these cuts mean every single person in Eden-Monaro will pay.