Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to speak about funding as well, but this is actually federal government funding rather than some brawl between the states and feds about road funding. This is about federal government funding for a much-needed service that is accessed by many families in my electorate—that is, the Centrelink office at Fountain Gate. Fountain Gate may be familiar to some within this chamber. It is very famous for Kath and Kim. But it is also very famous for the number of families that live in the area. It has the highest rate of couples with dependent children in Australia, so there is much need for a Centrelink office where you can come into the office and access a service very quickly.

But I regret to inform this House that that is not the case at the Fountain Gate Centrelink office. In fact, I would like to speak of four instances where my constituents have had to wait unacceptable times for a service which they have paid their taxes for. The first example is that of Ms B, shall we say, who lives in Hampton Park. She specifically asked that I raise this matter in parliament. She personally waited in a queue at the Centrelink Fountain Gate family assistance office with her 78-year-old mother for 45 minutes. She saw an elderly gentleman struggle to remain standing after recent surgery. She also witnessed young mothers leaving with distressed children. More recently, she observed an elderly couple taking turns standing in a queue whilst the other took a rest. This is in a Centrelink office.

The complaints I have had from other members of the community show that this is not an isolated problem; it is in fact a widespread problem. I can give you another example, that of Ms V, shall we say, of Narre Warren. On Tuesday, 30 August 2005, Ms V went to the Centrelink family assistance office in Fountain Gate. She had been queuing for 45 minutes with her three-year-old son and was still not at the reception desk. Her son needed to use a bathroom. She had to leave the line and find a public toilet. She was told by Centrelink staff that, if nobody minded her spot, she would have to rejoin the queue at the back of the Centrelink office. This was a lady with a three-year-old son who had waited 45 minutes to lodge a form.

Another example is Mr H, shall we say, who spent an hour in the queue to get to the reception desk to drop off some forms about his disability support pension. The fourth instance that I cite to this House tonight is that of Mr W, who lives in Narre Warren South. Mr W came into my office on 29 July and told me that he had waited between 40 and 45 minutes in the queue to get to the Centrelink reception desk to provide information that his wife was going overseas for a period of time. He was a fairly fit man of 65, but the gentleman behind him in that queue was in his 70s and struggling to wait for such a period of time. I think everyone in this place would agree that anybody having to wait from 45 minutes to an hour to get access to a service that they pay taxes for is unacceptable.

Today the minister was making much of the fact that the government had improved services in this area, but there is clear evidence in this House tonight that that is not the case. Families in my electorate pay their taxes and, when they line up in a queue in a Centrelink office, they should not have to wait for one hour. A mother should not have to wait 45 minutes with her three-year-old son to be told she will have to join the back of the queue because Centrelink does not have a toilet. It is unacceptable. I call upon the responsible minister to do his job—he will be aware of this set of circumstances—and put appropriate funding into the area.

On a more positive note, I would like to speak about a fantastic local program which relates to healthy eating in schools. I will give a brief background in the time that is left. Late last year, local food retailer Mr Anthony Cheeseman approached Maranatha Christian College in Endeavour Hills about managing and operating their canteen as a commercial venture that provides healthy food to students. The school agreed to the proposal and the 2006 school year has marked the beginning of this innovative program. On 2 February, I visited the school to see the program in action first hand. What I found was a canteen full of healthy foods for kids—no pies, chips or hotdogs. Most encouraging was the overwhelmingly positive response from the students to this change, which is a very good initiative.

The school community at Maranatha—in particular its principal, Andrew McKenzie—should be commended for making this decision and for getting more healthy food into the canteen. They are giving kids the best start in life so they can live better, learn better and grow up to be healthy adults. According to recent figures, around one in four Australian children aged between two and 17 is overweight or obese—double the prevalence recorded in 1986. This is a great local program that employs locals to provide a much needed service to the community. This program should be commended. The federal government has continued its Healthy School Communities program, and I urge it to continue to fund this worthwhile program. I congratulate Maranatha on its initiative.