Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The Policy Implementation Committee of cabinet has been established to work alongside the Expenditure Review Committee and the National Security Committee. These three important subcommittees of the cabinet are designed, obviously, to focus the cabinet's attention on important national security measures that Australia deals with on a daily basis. Obviously, the Expenditure Review Committee looks forward to the preparation of budget measures that will come forward and, if necessary, which will be handed down later this year in the midyear statement and of course in the budget next year. And the Policy Implementation Committee has been established particularly because of the extensive number of measures that have been incorporated in this year's budget, in particular to ensure that they're being implemented as quickly as possible because they relate to pandemic responsiveness.

Those opposite may want to jeer and make light of these things. But the Australian people are dependent upon this government, which has had their back from the start of this crisis, as we have responded in a way that Australians have never seen before from a government, with the scale of economic lifeline support and health support of some $18½ billion. These are measures of scale that governments in this country have not known, and that has meant that our cabinet has been, again, upping the work rate to ensure that these measures hit the ground, whether it's the JobKeeper or the JobSeeker commitments, the JobTrainer arrangements, the manufacturing strategy, the technology road map or the work that is being done on resilience and recovery to ensure that Australia is in a position to ensure that, with the impacts of climate change on this country—the royal commission noted that for the next 20 years the challenge will be there—we build our resilience. All of this is essential to continue to deliver on the ground, as this government does. If those opposite want to make light of that process, that reflects on them, not the government.

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