Page 1117 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 3 May 2022
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the radio this morning, Mr Assistant Speaker, if they keep coming up with motions like this, they will be in opposition for another 20 years.
Senator Seselja is so desperate he is now running his campaign through his puppets in the Legislative Assembly. Because that is all it is: a front for Zed to have his say in the Assembly he no longer sits in. The motion is insulting to hardworking public servants. Supporting it is indefensible, much like the coalition government’s policy on the Australian public service has been indefensible. They have cut jobs, underfunded jobs, and they have destroyed the capability of the public service.
You have to ask: why are Ms Lee, Mr Hanson and the Canberra Liberals defending the indefensible? The only explanation is that their overlord Zed has told them to. The policy that federal Labor has announced is good policy. It is backed by Senator Gallagher, who has worked extremely hard for Canberrans as both their senator and their former Chief Minister. The Canberra Liberals are threatened by her because, unlike Zed, she represents her constituents. Labor believes the public service has a crucial role to play in serving our community and helping to shape the future of our nation.
The public service has an essential role in designing and delivering services for the public good and in developing policy solutions to the challenges the nation faces, both now and into the future. Labor is committed to building a stronger public service that delivers better outcomes for the community, delivers frank and fearless advice to government, acts as a model employer and contributes to building a fairer and more inclusive Australia.
Labor will work constructively with the public service and unions to rebuild an effective public sector with fair and equitable conditions of employment and job security, where the commonwealth acts as a model employer and restores the ability of workers to genuinely bargain. Labor’s policies will improve efficiency in the APS, end the years of wasteful spending and boost jobs in service delivery to ensure Australians are able to access high-quality services when and where they need them.
A federal Labor government will be good for Canberra. It will contribute to the life and the economy of our city and ensure it grows into the future. It is going to take time, effort and a lot of resources to fix the damage caused by the Liberal’s policy. Another three years of the coalition government will be disastrous for our city and for our nation, especially for working people. This motion today is a stark reminder of how damaging a Canberra Liberal government would be. The motion from Ms Lee and now from Mr Hanson is more fiction than fact. I know this, and hardworking Canberrans know it too.
But let us talk about some of the facts. Under Senator Seselja’s tenure, Canberra has lost over 5,000 jobs from the federal public service, jobs that supported local small and medium businesses. Thousands more jobs have been sent out of this city, jobs that could have supported local businesses. They were sent through the decentralisation plan that was championed by Barnaby Joyce and supported by Zed. Senator Seselja chose to support Deputy Prime Minister Joyce instead of Canberrans and their jobs.
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