Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

The most embarrassing figure for the Australian Labor Party is that over 400,000 Australians have now got jobs and are no longer reliant on social welfare. I say to the honourable senator, as he well knows, that trying to pay off personal loans or trying to pay off a house mortgage on social security is a lot more difficult than it is when you have a job, especially when that job is guaranteed with a safety net which includes the very comprehensive fairness test that we have introduced.