Customs fed up with Gillard Government

26/10/11

Employees from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service have clearly had enough of the incompetent mismanagement of the Gillard Labor Government and are taking further strike action tomorrow, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection, Michael Keenan said today.

“This is a Labor Government that has treated Customs with disdain from the word go and has cut funds to frontline areas where they need it the most,” Mr Keenan said.

“Mr Michael Carmody, the CEO of Customs, recently expressed grave concerns in the latest 2010-11 Customs Annual Report that Customs is struggling to maintain current operations given the devastating budget cuts his agency has received.

“Without giving much thought to their border protection woes, Labor cut Customs personnel in the last budget by 90 on top of the 250 staff cut from the previous budget.

“Prime Minister Gillard slashed $34 million from Customs’ passenger facilitation program, they have drastically cut critical aerial surveillance by $20.8 million and 2,215 hours and also cut funding for cargo inspection in the 2009-10 Budget by $58.1 million,” he said.

“Mr Carmody also pointed out that incoming passenger and cargo numbers are going to increase dramatically in the next few years. It is clear that this combination of severe budget cuts and the significant increase in their workload is a recipe for disaster.

“With three illegal boats arriving over the past weekend Customs are clearly feeling the intense pressure to perform at a higher tempo with even less resources,” he said.

“It is becoming increasingly harder for Customs to mop up this Government’s border protection mess when Labor keeps hampering their ability to do their job properly.

“This Gillard Labor Government must start listening to the concerns of our frontline Customs officers and ensure that Australia’s national security is not put aside for the sake of political pride,” Mr Keenan said.