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

The Greens oppose schedule 2 in the following terms:

(1) Schedule 2, page 11 (lines 1 to 21), to be opposed.

We seek to oppose the whole of schedule 2, which contains not only issues around the number of weeks in the non-payment period but also deals with the language of this bill. As I expressed in my second reading contribution, we are concerned about the nuances the changes bring. We are concerned—and I am sure we will be debating the issue this afternoon—about the way that the social security system in this country is changing and taking a much more punitive approach. We believe that parts of this bill contribute to that approach—it seeks to demonise and take a more punitive approach when the evidence shows we need to be taking a much more supportive and incentive based approach. Having said that, the changes that were just rejected by the Senate—thank goodness!—deal with the part of the bill we had the most substantive concerns with.