Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise here today to stand against the Turnbull government and its complete and utter disrespect for our public sector. As a nation, we should want the best and brightest working in our government departments. We should be proud to have industry and sector experts working in our government departments, experts who will provide world-leading research and services ensuring that, as a nation, we are innovative and progressive on the issues that are affecting the people who live in our country.

We should not be selling these assets off to the Turnbull government's private sector labour hire mates. It is an absolute disgrace that labour hire has flourished under the LNP government. They should hang their heads in shame. The fact that the government is proud to outsource jobs and services, proud to privatise and proud to cut jobs in regional Queensland is completely unacceptable.

In Townsville, the LNP government has cut 149 jobs from the ATO. And the relocation of the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 38 Squadron King Air Fleet from Townsville to East Sale, Victoria, resulted in the loss of 40 aviation jobs. There are 50 fewer Defence staff in June 2017 than there were in December 2012. Nineteen jobs went from our very important CSIRO. Ten jobs were cut from Defence APS support staff in Townsville. A cut of 50 per cent resulted in the loss of 30 regional Customs jobs in Queensland—from Gladstone to Thursday Island, including Townsville. And five jobs were lost at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. This is an absolute disgrace, and the government should hang its head in shame.

The coalition government seems hellbent on destroying our public sector. Clearly only a Labor government will support our public sector, because a Shorten Labor government will abolish the coalition's arbitrary Average Staffing Level cap, strengthening the capacity and capability of the Australian Public Service. The ASL cap has become counterproductive and has led to a hollowing out of the public service, sparking a blowout in spending on contractors and consultants. By abolishing the cap, agencies will be allowed to set their staffing levels based on operational requirements. The Prime Minister's own department has described the ASL cap as 'a blunt instrument' and said, 'Through removing ASL caps, agencies may have greater flexibility to recruit specialist staff at a reduced cost.' By imposing an arbitrary cap, the Turnbull government is not only forcing government agencies to spend more taxpayer dollars on less services; they are reducing the number of quality, secure jobs in my community.

Australians with a disability will be particularly welcoming of this announcement as the ASL cap has led to long service delays in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, with some people in regional areas waiting months for access. It is absolutely paramount that we have a strong public sector. It is essential for the growth of this nation into the future.