John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In response to the member for Sturt's barb about not giving him the floor in this chamber: firstly, I make the point that all of us are entitled to ask the minister questions relating to the budget. That is the very reason we are here. Secondly, for the benefit of the member for Sturt, if he checks the Hansard record he will see that I extended him the courtesy, before I jumped, of giving him the benefit of two jumps in his series of questions which were directed to the minister. Thirdly, if he checks the Hansard he will see that I did not absorb all my five minutes, which I was entitled to absorb, when I made my speech and asked my questions of the minister.

I will now move to a couple of questions I want to ask the minister, directly related to the budget. They concern the Building Australia's Future Workforce package, which was announced in the budget and was very well received in my electorate of Reid. Firstly, I would like the minister to outline for the benefit of the House the government's thinking behind that initiative. Secondly, I note that that package includes changes to allow jobseekers on youth allowance to keep more of what they earn, and some adjustments to the taper rates for Newstart allowance, and I would be grateful if the minister could elucidate how that works.

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