Today (Wednesday 8th, 2017) in the Federal Parliament, Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis dismissed complaints of her constituents, citing only 14 people needing her assistance with the Centrelink debt problem saying “That’s not a lot”. Local mum and Labor’s Spokesperson for Gilmore Fiona Phillips said “Ann Sudmalis has dismissed the concerns of her constituents about false Centrelink debts. These people need someone that will fight for them, not pretend the debt debacle isn’t a big deal”. Ann Sudmalis also claimed she had “114,000 constituents” but according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics there are in fact 151,568 residents in Gilmore. “Ann Sudmalis has shamefully forgotten about 37,568 residents in her own community”, Fiona said. “Who has Ann Sudmalis forgotten: pensioners, children, families, the unemployed?”, Fiona continued. The Member for Gilmore made the embarrassing gaffe when she rose to downplay the Turnbull government’s Centrelink fake debt debacle, claiming that the thousands of debt notices across the country are a result of “teething problems”. Gilmore is an area of high socio-economic disadvantage with around 25,000 people receiving the Age pension. “Ann Sudmalis has not only used the parliament to dismiss the concerns of her constituents, but she’s also forgotten that tens of thousands of them even exist. The people of Gilmore deserve better”, Fiona concluded
