Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

That, obviously, would be our concern—that it was, in fact, paying for homes that had already been commenced or already built but which were still classed as new homes. That surely would undermine the object of this exercise, which is to stimulate jobs et cetera. I have some questions now around Newstart. They follow up some questions that I asked during the committee inquiry. Some of the answers did not provide all of the information that we need to analyse this package. I also want to ask further questions following on from some of those answers.

From the information that we have received to date, it is very unclear just how many unemployed people—people on Newstart—will actually receive any form of support under this package. I am seeking more detailed data to ascertain, if we can, exactly how many people currently on Newstart will be receiving some form of payment. Treasury responded to questions I asked about the number of people who would be receiving the education entry supplement. Out of that, they said there would be an additional 184,178 people. Of those on the Newstart allowance, there would be 50,925. There are, at this current time, over 450,000 people on Newstart. There is obviously a significant difference between 50,000 and 450,000. The government maintains that people on Newstart will receive other payments under the package. What I am trying to find out is: how many people on Newstart will receive the tax bonus, how many people will receive the back-to-school bonus and how many people will receive the single-income bonus? This will give us a better idea of the number of people on Newstart who will not receive any bonuses.

I presume that it may take a couple of minutes to find that information, so perhaps I should also ask the other questions that I have. As I understand it—and I am asking the question as I am not exactly positive—under the tax bonus system, you lodge your tax return and you actually have to have paid some tax to receive the tax bonus. Is that a correct understanding of the current situation?