Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much—

The CHAIR: Minister, wait for the call.

I stand by the comments that I've made. The government, as we've indicated on a number of occasions now, is always prepared to engage with non-government senators in relation to issues of concern to them and their constituents. On occasions we've had these sorts of conversations with the Australian Greens. In relation to the issue raised with us by Senator Lambie, we have agreed to work this issue through in good faith. This is incidentally, as Senator Lambie herself indicated, not the reason she decided to back our income tax plan today. As I heard when Senator Lambie gave her speech, she made a judgement today, on balance—having considered all the arguments—to back our income tax plan on its own merits.

But we will work this issue through over the next six to eight weeks. There are obviously some matters to be considered and some matters to be explored with the state government of Tasmania. When all of these things have happened, then we will make a relevant announcement at that point in time. I'm not in a position to tell you any more at this time, because these processes have not yet taken place.