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

My question is to the Minister for Human Services, Senator Kim Carr. Last week the minister gave media interviews in which he said the government currently believes that 10,000 single parents will be ineligible for any form of support once they are moved on to Newstart just after Christmas. Has the government modelled how the loss of all access to the parenting payment, including the concession card and rent assistance, will impact up to 10,000 single-parent families who are currently trying to balance part-time work and caring? If so, what is it? Has the government considered that this policy may have the reverse effect of the supposed intent of the policy—that is, single parents will reduce the number of hours they work so as to retain access to support in order to ensure that their income does not drop?