Ms HALL (5:19 PM) —The Howard government has waged a war on public servants and the services they provide. We have seen the systematic destruction of government service after government service. Every time a government asset is privatised or a service is contracted out, we see public servants losing their jobs and a decline in service delivery to Australians.

This government is philosophically opposed to a public sector. It is philosophically opposed to providing services to the people of Australia. Rather, it farms those services out to its friends in the private sector and gives no thought to whether or not it is more efficient or more effective. Rather, it is done because `the private sector does it better; it's right for the private sector to handle it'. The government is made up of ideologues who are committed to private enterprise, who are committed to the private sector providing services that can be provided quite often better by the public sector.

The government's present to unemployed Australians was Employment National and the plethora of agencies that attempt to deliver employment services to them. There are some good agencies out there, those that are truly concerned and working very hard to ensure that unemployed Australians are facilitated back into the work force and given the services they need. Then there are some very ordinary agencies out there, those that just go through the motions and get as much money out of the system as they can. Then there are the others out there who are failing unemployed Australians. The whole tender process that was involved in selecting these agencies was very flawed—very flawed indeed. The losers in this whole process are unemployed Australians.

The CES provided a service that was uniform throughout Australia. It was a service that unemployed people could rely on, a service that delivered. It was not a service that was run for profit; it was not a service that double-dipped. Unlike a number of these agencies, we hear about record outcomes in filling vacancies and getting people back into the work force. Record outcomes can be achieved if the number of vacancies filled are counted three or four times. The manner of counting the number of vacancies filled can completely change the outcome. There is the recycling and the double counting of those vacancies being filled. But always the people who are being failed by this process are those who are the most disadvantaged—the long-term unemployed in Australia. However, this government puts everything aside and continues to fund the private sector at the expense of the public sector, which previously did cater for the needs of the most disadvantaged in the employment market.

Legislation has been passed in this parliament to enable the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service to be corporatised. It is an organisation that provides employment services to disabled Australians who are seeking either to enter the work force or to live in the community more independently. Once again, this government has undermined the operation of the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service, which provided a quality service to unemployed disabled people. Rather, the government is looking at moving towards a situation where insurance companies offer these services instead of the CRS. One of the strengths of that service was the relationship it had with the Commonwealth Employment Service, Social Security and other agencies in the community, whereby they all worked together to come up with a package that would help those disabled people to find work.

I know that every day members in this House would be receiving phone calls from constituents who are complaining about the poor service they get from Telstra and about the hidden charges that have slipped onto the bottom of our phone accounts. Now every time you need a service, you have to pay for it—once again, profit at the expense of service.

Centrelink has undergone a major staff reduction and contracting out is slipping into its services. Literacy and numeracy courses have been contracted out along with other services that have been contracted out. You find yourself asking the question: is this government setting Centrelink up to be privatised or is this government setting Centrelink up to have all its core services contracted out? There is absolutely no commitment to a very strong public sector by this government.

That brings me to an issue concerning the Australian Taxation Office that has been very prominent in the Hunter. I have had a number of discussions with staff at the Taxation Office. One issue very important to them is the contracting out of IT services. This is also a very important issue to all Australians. If I can describe the scenario that exists in the Hunter, what has happened is that one company nationally has been given the contract for IT services. They have subcontracted to another company, which in turn has subcontracted to another company. So it has gone through three stages. If there is one area that people would like to think their privacy was protected in, it would be taxation. But, with this plethora of IT contracts, how can we be assured of that privacy?

Another issue goes to the actual operation of the tax office, because there has been a $20 million cut in its recurrent funding. The contracts have been awarded, but the agency does not have control of those contracts. Once again, we are seeing a reduction of service. I believe it is not being provided at a cheaper cost. It is disadvantaging Australians at the same time.

Other issues relating to the tax office concern the withdrawal of services. The cashiers are going to be phased out, and people will no longer be able to pay tax at the tax office. Imagine it! A tax office that does not accept any money! That is what we are facing here in Australia. Inquiry officers will no longer be able to talk to people, because inquiry officers are to be a thing of the past. If you want to speak to anyone at the tax office, you have to telephone and, if you are very lucky, you will be given an interview. The small business section has been abolished with 1,000 jobs gone, but 4,500 more staff will be taken on to deal with the GST.

Over the last few years there has been an emphasis on creating a positive image for the Taxation Office and creating a situation where the tax office can work well with business and the community. They claim that they are being helpful and that resources have been put in to allow this to happen. But we are now getting to a situation where there will be an alienation in the relationship that the tax office has with the community. You might ask: why after years of improving relationships with the community would the government decide that they no longer want to do that? Why after changing the image of the tax office are they now turning it around? Why after trying to develop strong regional services are they now doing away with them? The answer is the GST is soon to be introduced.

There are going to be so many problems associated with the GST, because it is confusing, that the tax office is going to be inundated with inquiries. They therefore need to be able to remove themselves from that public contact. They are no longer going to be there to deliver a quality service that focuses on the customer. Rather, they are going to be there just holding the fort and trying to survive against the onslaught of inquiries and problems that will be brought to them on a daily basis. This is a very dishonest act—removing the cashiers and the inquiry officers—because the Taxation Office is supposed to be at the forefront of the government's new tax policies, with the GST and all the other associated legislation that will be coming through. I think that the government needs to address this issue. (Time expired)