Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

That is an absolutely absurd question. It has no sensible place, because those opposite know that there is no sensible calculation involved in deriving those numbers—none whatsoever. We will stand by the Treasury’s modelling on this ahead of Senator Abetz’s and Senator Minchin’s mickey mouse, back of the envelope projections. But what we will be watching for over the weekend, when you go back to your constituents, is for you to start telling them they cannot have the $600 or the $950, when you stand there and start saying to Australians, ‘Look, we’re sorry—short-term politics says we have to say no to this, but don’t you worry if you lose your job. We’ll be in there playing short-term politics,’ because that is what is going to be at stake here. When you vote on this, that is what is going to be at stake here. You are going to be putting Australians on the unemployment queue.