Labor is clearly suffering from memory loss when it comes to its record on Centrelink jobs in the Northern Territory.
Today’s promise of 100 new positions does little to make up for the almost 200 jobs that Labor slashed from the Territory when it was last in office.
“Labor might have forgotten, but I’m sure Territorians remember the deep cuts that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government had to make to essential services like Centrelink because of its failure to manage the economy properly,” Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan said.
“Across the country, Labor axed more than 4800 jobs from the Department of Human Services in just three years – the deepest cuts in the department’s history.
“In contrast to Labor, the Coalition has invested in an extra 2750 extra call centre workers to help improve customer service at Centrelink.
“Those staff have helped us to slash wait times on our phone lines by more than 11 minutes. Busy signals have fallen by more than 40 per cent and call transfers are down 23 per cent.
“These are significant results that further demonstrate the risk that a vote for Labor poses at this election.
