If there’s one thing Australians should’ve realised a very long time ago, it’s that Leigh Sales isn’t the kind of person you pick a fight with.
The journalist has made an entire career from cutting through spin and churning out facts, putting her guests on the spot and holding so many to account.
So you can imagine what happened when she took Centrelink to task after finding herself waiting on the phone to them for more than two hours.
"Does Centrelink ever answer its phone? 2 hours on hold last week fruitlessly, heading in the same direction today," she tweeted.
Centrelink was quick to reply, realising it's probably not fabulous PR to have one of the most recoginsed political journalists tweeting about its service.
As forthright (sarcastic?) as ever, Sales replied, "Thanks for the tip" and proceed to ask for a number that will be answered in less than 10 minutes -- assuming one exists.
It doesn't.
Listen: Mia Freedman interviews Leigh Sales on the No Filter podcast. Yes, sometimes the interviewer becomes the interviewed. (Post continues after audio.)
And if Malcolm Turnbull can't weave his spin past Sales' laser-sharp focus, Centrelink was well and truly deep in the hole it had dug itself.
Which is debatable, but the tales of my Centrelink experiences would take more time to articulate then you'd spend waiting on the phone to them.
Unable to deliver the goods, they resigned to replying ,"families line open til 8pm on 136 150, otherwise our other lines reopen 8am. Our average answer time is around 16 mins."
Which, in the year of alternative facts, seems to be a fitting claim.
Sales ended her frustrations, writing, "Surprising number of people in my twitter feed sharing stories of appalling waiting times to get through to Centrelink on the phone."
Top Comments
The Centrelink #Notmydebt debacle is a case of massive fraud, the management of which is overwhelming the capacity of Centrelink officers to cope with. The whole system can not cope. There are dozens of articles written about how difficult it is to reach them let alone deal with them when you do get them on the phone. How does someone in Leigh Sales position not know Centrelink doesn't answer their phones for hours. Why is this a surprise? And the fabrication about call averages being 16 minutes has to be one of the most selective piece of vetting of statistics to lie to the public we have seen in a while.
Why does Leigh Sales need to talk to Centrelink when she earns around $280,000 per year courtesy of the taxpayer?
I was thinking the same thing.