Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week we saw the Minister for Human Services release the top 100 suburbs for Centrelink non-compliance—'the list of shame', as the Murdoch press has so eloquently dubbed it. Bridgewater, where my office has the pleasure of being located, has hit the list, with 86 people not meeting their requirements. I know that Bridgwater has a population of just over 4,000 people. What I do not know is how many Bridgewater people are on Centrelink. Eighty-six people out of 4,000—is that really enough to shame an entire suburb? What is that—just over two per cent. I have spent all morning chasing information from the minister's office and getting nothing but the run-around. Why is it so hard to get information from this minister when he hands it out so freely to the Murdoch press? He has shown that he is even not averse to handing out citizens' private details, but apparently only when it suits him and his grubby political agenda. This minister is a bad fit in a critical portfolio. His job should be to lift people up, but he kicks them when they are down. The minister has released his 'list of shame'. How about the hottest 100 suburbs of Cayman Island account holders, unsafe building sites or superannuation non-payment? How about the hottest 100 suburbs of tax evaders? I will not hold my breath to see these lists of shame from the minister's office any time soon in the Murdoch press.