Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development. Will the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House how the Morrison-McCormack government's budget is securing our recovery by continuing the delivery of vital infrastructure across regional Australia?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cowper for his question. Last night we announced in the budget an additional $1 billion for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. For the member for Cowper, for the five councils that he either has wholly and solely in his fine Mid North Coast electorate or indeed shares with the tremendous members for Page and Lyne, we see considerable uplift in the amount of money that they are going to get to spend on local roads and community infrastructure: Bellingen Shire gets an additional $1.1 million; Coffs Harbour City Council, finely represented by the mayor there, Denise Knight, $2.7 million; Kempsey Shire—and we were there recently at the community hub, a project which is going to make such a difference for the social outcomes of that great place—$2.3 million; Nambucca Valley, $1.5 million; and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council—and we caught up with Peta Pinson as well—$3.6 million.

Last night's announcement was for the 537 councils across Australia but, for those in Cowper, there was $11.4 million. That takes the total for those five councils to $26.9 million. That's a significant investment in not only their shires but also infrastructure right throughout Cowper. For example, the Coffs Harbour bypass is changing the landscape of the member's electorate. It's taking 12,000 vehicles out of the town centre each day. That is so significant. The Commonwealth has allocated $1.46 billion for the 14-kilometre bypass of Coffs. There are currently 53 active contracts on the project. What they are all doing is creating jobs, creating opportunities and creating investment, making procurement for those small businesses around Coffs Harbour. Of the 12,000 jobs across the life of this project, 2,000 are going to be in Coffs Harbour.

Indeed, the infrastructure budget announced by the Treasurer last night has $15.2 billion of new project commitments. But don't just take my word for it. Chris Melham—I know he's known to many of those opposite—CEO of the Civil Contractors Federation, said, 'Investing in civil infrastructure projects generates jobs, boosts business confidence and underpins economic growth.' That is what he said, and he is right. Certainly regional Australia is a big beneficiary of the infrastructure budget announced last night, including the 10-year Infrastructure Investment Pipeline Program and the 30,000 additional jobs on top of the 100,000. This $110 billion of infrastructure is supporting Australians right throughout the economy—and certainly, as I say again, in those country areas. (Time expired)

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. The front pages of Australia's newspapers reported that an infrastructure bonanza would be announced in last night's budget. So why does page 84 of Budget Paper No. 1 show a $3.3 billion cut to infrastructure investment over the next four years? Why announce a splurge but deliver a cut?

Mr Burke interjecting—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have got a media release, thank you, member for Watson; I've got the media release from the member for Ballarat. I notice the ALP have a little logo that they're now putting on their media releases. It's got a three-word slogan, would you believe; it's all about spin. The three-word slogan we need is this one: 'securing Australia's recovery'. That's what the budget does.

I read the media release closely. There is no underspend. There is no cut. The budget makes for an infrastructure rollout of $110 billion right across the economy. There were 30,000 additional jobs announced last night. As I explained to the member for Ballarat yesterday, what we do is pay on delivery. We pay on milestones. It might be the Labor way to pay for a job that isn't yet completed—they might have done that in those six sorry, dysfunctional, chaotic years—but we pay on delivery. We're getting on with the job. You heard from the Treasurer last night the new commitments we've made, the $15.2 billion of commitments we are making, right across every state and every territory.

Ms Butler interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Griffith will cease interjecting.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, those state and territory Labor ministers, who I advised on Sunday night in a courtesy call about the infrastructure rollout—which, yes, the member for Ballarat says was on the front pages of the paper; good on the press gallery for acknowledging what a great budget it is and what an infrastructure budget it is—are also very much in favour of the infrastructure rollout we've got. Those Labor ministers, whether it was Mark Bailey in Queensland, whether it was Jacinta Allan in Victoria, whether it was Rita Saffioti or Eva Lawler, all acknowledged the projects we are building in their states or territories. Chris Steel, from the ACT, was indeed another to say, 'Thank you, well done.' That's what we are doing; we are getting on with the job of building the infrastructure Australia needs. There is no cut. The only cut I've seen this week is the haircut I got the other day!

Small business is taking advantage of all the tax incentives we are giving them. We are getting on with the job of putting in place the infrastructure Australia needs. And did I mention it before—30,000 jobs were announced in the infrastructure rollout last night. Already, our $110 billion is supporting 100,000 jobs. You could have only dreamt, Opposition Leader, of that money when you were the infrastructure minister, yet you didn't get that sort of money. You didn't have that sort of delivery. (Time expired)

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on how last night's budget will continue to secure our economic recovery and generate more jobs?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the member for Robertson. I recently had the opportunity to visit her electorate. We visited a business called Terrigal Electric. We met with the first female apprentice electrician that was taken on by that particular business, again, with the support of the coalition government.

There are more than 50,000 taxpayers in the electorate of Robertson that got a tax cut last night. There are more than 16,000 businesses in the electorate of Robertson that will be able to access the business tax incentives that we announced last night, and in last night's budget we announced a series of measures that are part of our plan to create 250,000 more jobs across the Australian economy, building on the 500,000 jobs that have been created since the last budget.

The labour market has shown enormous resilience. We've seen real gains across the economy as we've managed to suppress the virus, but the virus still runs rampant around the world. Europe has gone into a double-dip recession, and we cannot be complacent here in Australia. We have to lock in those gains, otherwise we could lose those gains. That's why last night we saw record investment in skills, record investment in infrastructure, record investment in providing further tax relief to Australian businesses with investment incentives, more investments in energy and, of course, more support for child care to boost workforce participation.

The budget was well received by a number of key stakeholders. This is what Infrastructure Partnerships said about the budget last night:

The Federal Government has walked its talk on infrastructure funding backing up last year's record spending with an even bigger outlay in this year's Budget …

This is what the Housing Industry Association said about last night's budget:

The extension of the Boosting Apprentice Commencement wage subsidy to allow more new apprentices and trainees to start their career in a trade will help to grow the next generation of tradies and home builders.

This is what the Business Council of Australia said about last night's budget:

This budget propels Australia out of the pandemic and lays the foundations for a jobs-led recovery …

And the Australian Industry Group said of last night's budget that it 'locks in the recovery from recession and shifts gears from emergency measures to investing in the economy for the longer term.'

Last night's budget was for all Australians. Last night's budget was to create more jobs. Last night's budget will create more jobs.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. I refer to page 153 of Budget Paper No. 2. Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that just one per cent of the infrastructure funds for the Northern Territory announced in last night's budget will be spent in the next four years?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for his question—indeed, I do. The Northern Territory is a vital part of the infrastructure component of the budget. I speak to members in the Northern Territory all the time, whether it's Lia Finnochiaro, the leader of the CLP in that great territory, or indeed Michael Gunner or Eva Lawler. I speak to them and I acknowledge the role that they play in wanting to build, needing to build, demanding to build, expecting to build and deserving to have the infrastructure that we are rolling out right across the nation. But, as I told the member for Ballarat in answer to her question, there is no cut to infrastructure spending. We are getting on with delivery, whether it's in the Northern Territory or anywhere else across this land.

Overall infrastructure funding has increased over the forward estimates and has increased since the last budget—which was just in October last year—from $60 billion over the four years from 2020-21 to $70 billion over the four years from 2021-22. Now, $70 billion is a higher number than $60 billion; I will just put that out there. The 2021-22 budget includes—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister will resume his seat.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. It was a very specific question. It went to new investment in the Northern Territory as shown on page 153 of the budget papers. It's really easy to identify. It's all the gaps—all the zeros that are there.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition has made his point of order. I say to the Deputy Prime Minister that it was a specific question. But, having said that, the way it's phrased can't compel, as I've said—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Member for Sydney!

As I've said before, questions might be framed to try and elicit a yes or no answer. Even though that is the case, the minister is not compelled to give a yes or no answer. But the Deputy Prime Minister must be relevant to the question of infrastructure in the Northern Territory. I will call him back to the dispatch box, but infrastructure outside the Northern Territory isn't relevant. He can refer to the budget in regard to the Northern Territory.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Northern Territory will benefit from the additional billion dollars we are placing in the road safety package. I see the member for Solomon nodding. The Northern Territory will benefit from a further billion dollars in funding for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. The Northern Territory will benefit from the defence spending that we are doing in the Northern Territory—$760 million. The Northern Territory will benefit—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the Deputy Prime Minister that he's been asked about a specific part of the budget. He is not responsible for defence spending, and that is not what the question was about. The Deputy Prime Minister needs to be relevant to the question or wind up his answer.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's $150 million for phase 2 of the Northern Territory national network highway upgrades and $173.6 million towards the sixth corridor of the Roads of Strategic Importance initiative. That supports the development of the gas industry in the Beetaloo sub-basin and, indeed, $0.3 million for a development study of the proposed Tennant Creek multimodal facility and rail terminal, which I visited not that long ago. When, you might ask? We are getting on with the job. We will work with the Northern Territory government, because that's what we do. They give us their priorities. We invest in them. We do it on an 80-20 basis when it comes to regional areas, unlike Labor, where it's only 50-50. That's why—let me tell you—territory and state governments love it when the Liberals and Nationals are in government. It's because they get more value for their infrastructure dollar.

Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Women. Will the minister advise the House on how Australian women are playing a vital role in our economic comeback and how this budget supports them to do so?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Higgins for her question. Economic security goes hand in hand with financial independence, and this is a budget that gives women more choices than they have ever had before in the workforce. Within our $3.4 billion women's budget we have $1.9 billion to support women's economic security—to retrain for a new job, to acquire new skills, to take on an apprenticeship or, as an employer, to take on an apprentice or to take stock mid-career and take a different direction. All of these opportunities and choices are funded through this budget. We can make this possible when we give women a secure future. The childcare investment alone will add up to 300,000 hours of work a week, allowing mothers, fathers and carers, up to 40,000 people, to work an extra day a week, boosting GDP by $1.5 billion a year.

I'm particularly proud of how we are helping women into non-traditional trade occupations, including in construction, where we have got a great partnership with Master Builders Australia in their Women Building Australia program, which focuses on mentoring and supporting women to achieve success in what is historically a male dominated profession.

It's vital that everyone feels secure in their workplace. The Morrison government is committed to building a new culture of respect in Australian workplaces, one that calls out and prohibits sexual harassment. This budget delivers the funding to implement our response to Respect@Work. We know that many women, particularly those in the later stages of their lives, can find themselves suddenly financially vulnerable. It can stem from family breakdown, poor superannuation balances at retirement or just being on the wrong side of the gender pay gap throughout your career. We want to see improved retirement incomes for women. We will remove the $450-a-month threshold under which employees are not—

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could the minister pause for a second. I say to the members interjecting: this is question time. Questions get asked and they get answered. It is not an opportunity for a rolling conversation.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We'll remove the $450 superannuation guarantee per month threshold to improve those superannuation balances. We've got the family home guarantee to help single-parent families into home ownership. We're undertaking all of these measures not just for the benefit of Australian women and to help them achieve personal economic security but to improve the economic security of Australia as a whole, particularly in rural and regional Australia, where it is great to see women leading the way as families move from city to country with more opportunities and more choices.

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to page 36 of Budget Paper No. 1, which states:

… a population-wide vaccination program is likely to be in place by the end of 2021.

Will the Prime Minister now guarantee that all Australians will be fully vaccinated against COVID by the end of this year?

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

As the member, I'm sure, would know, these are assumptions that Treasury put together in the budget to guide their assessment of the estimates that they prepare. That is not a policy statement nor is it a policy commitment of the government. It is a Treasury assumption that has been put in place, and it makes no reference to second doses; it only refers to doses. We expect the vaccination program that the government is rolling out in partnership with the states and territories to achieve some three million doses by the end of this week. The numbers in just yesterday show that states and territories, together with GPs around the country, are making strong progress each and every day, and more and more Australians are getting their vaccinations.

From next Monday, those aged over 50 will be able to go to their GP and receive their AstraZeneca vaccine. I encourage them to do that. Where we stand right now is that just over 10 per cent of the eligible adult population have received their first dose. Over 30 per cent, around a third, of those aged over 70 and about 80 per cent of aged-care facilities have had the first dose. The vaccination program will continue to roll out in coordination with the plan that we have agreed with the national cabinet members in partnership with the states and territories. We will be moving as quickly as possible based on the supply of vaccines. I commend the minister for health that we continue to access additional supplies of vaccines, particularly the Pfizer vaccine, and bring them forward as much as we can to ensure that those vaccines can be provided to the over-50 population.

The vaccination program will continue to roll out. Treasury have made their assumptions around the budget, and I refer members to those assumptions. I refer members to the government's policy statements in relation to the timing of the program.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison government is securing our recovery by protecting jobs today and driving jobs growth for the future?

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Sturt for his question. I note that this week data has come out showing that the strongest gains in online job ads are from the honourable member's state of South Australia, with a staggering increase of 61.3 per cent pre-COVID. Indeed, the vacancy report from the National Skills Commission shows that job advertisements seasonally adjusted are up 3.3 per cent month on month, standing at 243,500 jobs right now for Australians to take. It is the 12th consecutive month of an increase in job advertisements, which are now 245 per cent above the level recorded in April 2020. It is an extraordinary result as the economy kicks back.

As the Prime Minister has said, if you have a go, you will get a go, and right now Australians are certainly having a crack. The unemployment rate is at 5.6 per cent and 13.1 million Australians are in work today, over 100,000 more than pre-COVID. As the Prime Minister has said, Australia is the only country in the OECD to achieve this result—and I can see those opposite are applauding the government for that! The budget is driving Australia's economic recovery through more jobs and more skills, and there has never been a better time for Australians to get skills. Indeed, there are 1.16 million Australians on JobSeeker or youth allowance 'other', 120,000 fewer than one month ago. Ten per cent of people went off the payment in one month—extraordinary.

There's a great opportunity now for Australians to get skilled. The budget has a billion-dollar JobTrainer Fund continuance to deliver low-fee or fee-free training places in areas of skill needs. This will ensure that Australians can get access to critical skills—10,000 places in digital skills and 33,800 places in the aged-care sector for critical skills. We are also investing $1.5 billion to support the employment of newly commenced apprentices and trainees, assisting school levers and jobseekers, especially during the peak hiring period for key industries. This will see the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy extend for a further six months, through to March 2022, to pick up all the school leavers who will be finishing school at the end of this year. Furthermore, the Morrison government will deliver the single biggest transformation of the employment services model that we have seen in over two decades. The New Employment Services Model will modernise exactly how government has connections with jobseekers and how they connect with employers, placing jobseekers in the centre of their journey to getting a job, with a very strong digital focus. This budget is 100 per cent focused on skilling and getting Australians into jobs.

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question, again, is to the Prime Minister. I refer to his previous answer in which he said that his budget was based on assumptions not policy settings. If the budget's assumptions aren't based on policy settings, what are they based on? Why can't the Prime Minister give a clear answer to the question: when will Australians be vaccinated?

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

I will ask the Minister for Health and Aged Care to provide a further update to the figures that I've just mentioned about the progress of the vaccination program. I know it is a mystery to those opposite about how budgets are put together and how they work. There are assumptions in the budget that Treasury pull together based on their assessment of the circumstances, and that helps them with their assessment of estimates. That is how budgets are done.

I know it's been a long time since they have been in an expenditure review committee and they don't have the skills or the experience to understand how budgets are put together. They didn't do a particularly good job of it when they were last in government. So it may be a mystery to them. Perhaps we should offer them courses in how budgets are put together. Perhaps that could be one of the many courses. There are a lot of training courses that we are providing. Maybe we should introduce a training course to the Labor Party on how to prepare a budget and how to engage in responsible expenditure to secure Australia's future. Perhaps we should put training programs to the Labor Party on how to develop economic policies to support the Australian people. But I will allow the Minister for Health and Aged Care to add further to the answer.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To add to the Prime Minister's answer, the very simple response is that yesterday 72,000 Australians were vaccinated; today, 76,000 Australians; and in the last week we had 402,000—a record number. What we are seeing is those numbers increasing. Over the course of the year, we expect to have 40 million Pfizer vaccines in Australia. All of these things are, of course, dependent—as Treasury note—on the ability of these vaccines to arrive in the country. Our expectation is that those vaccines will be available, that that supply will be available. We are seeing this week a million CSL vaccines being made available. Some have to be provisioned for contingency, for second doses, but we are distributing approximately 900,000 doses this week.

We are ensuring that, over the course of the year, we do have supply for all Australians to have the opportunity to be vaccinated. What that does is give us greater security and greater protection as a nation. The most fundamental of all assumptions within the budget with regard to COVID is that Australia continues to be safe. Of all of the elements, that is the one with the most significant importance. We are now, on the advice I have today, at 83 days with zero cases of community transmission. So that assumption looks as if it is going to be a very strong assumption. What we see from that and what we see in relation to the capacity to supply enough vaccines for every Australian who chooses to have that opportunity over the course of the year is that they remain strong and clear.

Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's budget is guaranteeing essential services and supporting the mental health of Australians?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Reid, who has had a professional commitment and a personal commitment to the mental health of Australians throughout her entire adult life. This budget invests in essential services on a variety of fronts within the health space. We see a $6 billion investment in Medicare over and above that which was there—an increase. We go from $30 billion to $31 billion to $32 billion to $33 billion per annum over the course of the budget. In aged care a $17.7 billion increase will take aged care from $26 billion to $29 billion to $31 billion to $33 billion, almost as much as Medicare, over the course of the final year of the forward estimates.

But one of the most important investments is in mental health. Every single person in this chamber is interested in mental health, as a member for parliament but also as a mother or a father, as a son or a daughter, as a friend or as somebody within their community. We all know the challenges and the ravages of mental health. We saw predictions of catastrophic outcomes in terms of suicide last year. From the latest advice I have, thankfully we have been spared that.

But there's still so much more to do on suicide prevention. In mental health, we're investing $2.3 billion. To sit around the budget cabinet table with the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, for whom this was an equal passion, was a great privilege, and to see that we've been able to invest in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, which is transformative, is extraordinarily important. It will have five pillars. It will see $250 million going to prevention and early intervention for resilience for all Australians, but particularly young Australians; $350 million going to suicide prevention; $1.4 billion into treatment, for a new national network of treatment centres for adults, for youth and for children, and the Head to Health program, which will stand alongside the headspace program; $100 million for vulnerable Australians, with a particular focus on our Indigenous communities; and $200 million for workforce and governance.

But, in particular, with regard to suicide prevention, the Prime Minister said to me and to Christine Morgan, 'What's the single thing that will save the most lives?' and Christine Morgan said, as a result of her work, 'Universal aftercare.' That means, for every person who has attempted suicide and has been discharged, having the capacity to have a program that will follow them. There is $158 million for a universal aftercare program. It's something that has been summarised very simply by Suicide Prevention Australia. The head of Suicide Prevention Australia, Nieves Murray, said 'the additional investment in services to support people who have survived a suicide attempt will save lives'. There couldn't be a more important investment.

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Prime Minister. I refer to his previous answer, in which the Prime Minister said that the budget's assumption on vaccinations was for only one dose to be delivered by the end of the year. Josh Butler reports that the Treasurer told his press conference yesterday that the budget's assumption was that Australians will get two doses by the end of the year. Which is it, Prime Minister?

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

The budget papers themselves make no reference to first or second doses. They make no reference to either of them. I've been very clear, in the medical advice that we've received, that we are working as quickly as we can, together with the states and territories, to ensure we get as many Australians vaccinated as quickly as possible. That's exactly what we're doing. We're doing it with the states and territories. The vaccination program continues to be rolled out, and it will be done so with the support particularly of our general practitioners around the country. That's the plan. That's what we're executing.

It is the next day after the budget. It's the next day after the budget, and, as we come to this dispatch box and talk about economic plans, we get questions from the shadow health minister. The shadow Treasurer—I don't know where he's gone! Is he—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. His microphone is off.

Honourable members interjecting—

Members on both sides! The Deputy Prime Minister! The Leader of the Opposition, on a point of order?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, Mr Speaker, on two points: one is the Prime Minister continues to sledge members of the opposition rather than answer questions; the second is on relevance. If the Prime Minister doesn't understand that the vaccine rollout affects the economy, then I'm not quite sure how we can explain that to him.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister wasn't being relevant when he started a general character assessment of those opposite. He needs to be relevant to the question. Now I'm calling the minister for health.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just to add to that a little bit—as the Prime Minister said, the assumptions in the budget are very clear in terms of the ability for Australia to have a whole-of-population vaccination program.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me deal with this sort of microgame. There's a very—

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left!

Opposition members interjecting—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, no.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister for health, if you could just pause for a moment.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, no, I can deal with this.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will just pause for a second. The minister for health has the call.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The assumption is for a whole-of-population vaccination program, and the difference between a first and second shot of the Pfizer vaccine, which is what we're doing in the final quarter, is three weeks. So, if you have the whole population in the course of the year—and this is very simple to understand—those people who complete their vaccination by 9 December will be done this year; and, if there are those that occur in the last few days of the year, then, by definition, those three weeks will be on the other side of the calendar. But what does that mean? It means that our goal is to ensure that the whole population has the opportunity, through supply, to access a vaccine this year. If there are some who choose, because of personal circumstances, to have it in the last couple of weeks of the year and that then means that they go into the first week of next year, that does not affect any of the assumptions. So the answer is very simple. The difference between the two is only the difference of the three weeks. For the opposition to think that that is material or germane is deceptive and inaccurate.

Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Women. Will the minister update the House on steps the Morrison government is taking to improve the safety of women and children, including through this year's budget?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Curtin for her question and acknowledge her leadership in this important area. Family, domestic and sexual violence in all the pernicious forms that it takes must stop, whether it be the sickening and, sadly, too frequent incidence of intimate partner violence or the emerging challenges of online abuse, harassment and stalking. Everyone has the right to safety in their homes, in their workplaces, in their places of study, in the community and online—everyone. I would like to acknowledge the many women and children who have spoken out about their own intensely personal and harrowing stories, often at their own cost. They are brave, and their leadership helps change the future for other women.

Within our $3.4 billion women's budget, we are committing $1.1 billion to women's safety, the largest single Commonwealth investment in women's safety in a federal budget—funding for prevention and frontline services, and perpetrator interventions; and research so we can build our evidence base, and for emerging issues, such as how technology is being increasingly used for coercive control. This budget represents the Commonwealth's down payment on the next Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, which will commence in mid-2022. So there is further investment to follow, after the consultations which we will have with the states, including the national women's safety summit to be held on 29 and 30 July.

Among the comprehensive range of measures that the government is now committing to are: a new national partnership agreement with states and territories to bolster frontline family support to combat domestic and sexual violence; immediate financial assistance to women leaving violent relationships, delivering up to $5,000 to help establish a home away from violence; and more funds to the states and territories for legal services. Our most vulnerable women, many in rural and regional Australia, where I come from, who have been victims of violence will now be able to get help from a local community legal centre—a door that previously had not been open to everyone. The women who work in those centres understand the needs of those who walk through that door. The government is steadfast in its commitment to improve services and outcomes for women and children, and I know that I'm joined by all members of this place who stand by that resolution.