Australian Public Service

We've had to listen to the opposition degrade and attack our country's public services every day of this parliament. They have a plan to cut 36,000 jobs from our vital public services. That's a 20 per cent cut. Imagine the damage of a 20 per cent cut to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, Medicare, Services Australia, aged care and NDIS regulators, biosecurity, Defence and the ABC.

Labor knows it's important that Australians can access and are protected by a well-resourced Public Service. Labor knows it's important that we have staff in biosecurity to protect Australia from pests, disease and weeds. Labor knows it's important that a new mum can ring Medicare and get her baby onto her card so they can access our world-leading healthcare system or that a senior can discuss whether they are eligible for a pension. And Labor knows that it's important that a veteran can find someone in DVA who knows the systems to help and support them.

All the Liberals want to do is sack public servants so they can hand over work to labour hire and their mate in the big four consulting firms, who in the final term of the Morrison government received nearly 10,000 contracts worth more than $7.2 billion. The people of the Blue Mountains, the Plains and the Hawkesbury need and deserve good public services, not a return to the days of cuts, cuts and more cuts.