Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, could I acknowledge the commitments that Senator Xenophon has given in relation to emerging problems and support for a Senate inquiry if required. I think we will be calling on that sooner rather than later. We do not support this bill. We think there are huge problems with the bill. We think that the review has got significant problems, given that there are no terms of reference for the review. But I suppose it is better than nothing. But I would like to use the time when the Xenophon amendment is before the chamber to deal with a number of issues before we go to a vote on that amendment, which we would be inclined to support, given that there has already been a deal done. The deal has been done. It is not a very good deal. There are no terms of reference. There is a nod, a wink and a handshake—typical of the Xenophon team's dealings with this government. Whenever the government is in trouble, the Xenophon team will pull them out of trouble, and we will not explore the real issues; we will just get another commitment for a committee or some inquiry. That just seems to be how it works.

I just want to go into some of the details, Minister. You indicated the program has started. So the program commenced without a legislative framework. Could you explain how that can happen. How many participants are there? What are the ages of these participants? What industries or employers are they engaged with? Are the intern payments being counted as income? And, if so, how will they be reimbursed, if the bill passes?