Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the Morrison government's diabolical plan to shut down Centrelink offices in Newcastle and Mayfield, squashing the two into a single yet-to-be-determined location. It isn't just about jobseekers, although goodness knows they've had a tough time surviving on the pitiful rate of Newstart from this government. This is about older Australians who access pensions, it's about carers and people with a disability and it's about tens of thousands of Newcastle families who access family tax benefits. Indeed, there are very few people who don't have a reason to interact with Centrelink.

I'm not going to sit back and let the Morrison government axe vital public services in Newcastle without a fight. Recently I put a call out to Novocastrians to join me in saying, 'Hands off our Centrelink, Mr Morrison,' and the response has been fierce. Daily I receive dozens of petitions signed by Novocastrians who are fed up with this government's attack on public services. Daily I'm hearing the personal stories of the detrimental impact these closures will have on my constituents and their families and loved ones.

The Morrison government did absolutely zero consultation with my community before deciding to shut down our Centrelink offices, so I've done some consultation for them. These people are the human face of the Morrison government's callous cuts. I want to take this opportunity in parliament to tell the Prime Minister exactly what this means for people in my community. They are people like Robyn, who told me how important Centrelink offices are for her. She wrote:

I truly have benefited from the face to face service over 7 years when I was made Redundant as a 59 year old widow. I have had times of great anxiety and being able to physically attend the office and be helped by another human being has been such a gift. In times of stress, the personal touch really matters and helps relieve some of the struggle and pain.

And then there's Graeme, who is in his 80s. He told me that, because his right leg is amputated above the knee, his ability to travel is limited to where he can get to on a mobility scooter. That's why he so worried about the fate of the Centrelink Mayfield office. Then there's Lisa, who told me she has a degenerative disability and is very concerned about how she's going to access Centrelink as her needs change. She worried about what she's going to do when she needs to go in and do her business with the ATO and Medicare, all of which she currently does from her Centrelink office.

These are just a few of the thousands of people in my electorate of Newcastle who will be hurt by these appalling Centrelink closures. I call on the government to ditch this diabolical plan.