Page 857 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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Those working for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and public servants across all agencies, deserve for their government to treat them with dignity and respect by providing job security. By taking jobs away from the ACT through regionalising the authority, it is expected that a further 76 jobs will be relocated from the ACT by 2021. Once again, this out-of-touch coalition government wants to win over voters in regional electorates by draining the nation’s capital of its workforce.
I know that voters in the regions are smarter than to fall for a quick pork-barrelling exercise, and I know that Canberrans want a different approach. That is why ACT Labor will always do whatever it can to protect the public service and keep agencies within our territory. Let us be clear that the public service can provide the economic benefits that are needed for the regions, but this should be achieved by creating new and restoring former agencies rather than ripping jobs out of existing locations.
It is clear that the federal government, particularly the Nationals MPs and senators, are hell-bent on scoring political points in their local electorates, rather than doing what is in the best interests of the public service workers and Australians who rely on government services. While those opposite idly sit by and let their federal coalition mates tear the Australian public service apart, this Labor government will always stand up for the public service and the Canberrans who are employed in it.
I commend Ms Cheyne’s motion to the Assembly, and I call on all members in this place to stand up for Canberra by supporting it.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (3.43): The Greens are pleased to support this motion today and to call out the federal government’s incessant push for decentralisation against both economic sense and common sense. Over recent years we have seen repeated federal budgets that either ignore or actively attack Canberra, and federal governments have continued to use Canberra as a political punching bag by cutting jobs and departmental budgets year on year.
Canberra was established to be the seat of our federal government. It is our nation’s capital and is meant to house our national institutions, our commonwealth public service and our commonwealth parliament. As the nation’s capital, Canberra deserves to be treated with respect rather than the disdain being shown by the federal government.
This ideological push by the current Liberal and National government to decentralise the public service is not built on any genuine concern for unemployment in regional communities. If it was, they would commit to raising the Newstart allowance, fund major projects like climate change mitigation and region-building infrastructure, or even create new Australian public service positions, services and remote working hubs in those regional towns. Rather, decentralisation seems to be about weakening the position, influence and effectiveness of the public service so that there can be more funding cuts and more job cuts in the future.
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