Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I completely understand the issue and the point you're trying to make here, but I absolutely assure you that the Prime Minister has been very, very clear with the Australian public, as he has with all of us here, that we as a government are absolutely committed to do what it takes to get every Australian from here to the other side, whenever and wherever that may be. If there is a circumstance where we are required to have things in place past 30 December 2020, we would come back to this place, in whatever format that had to take, and seek the agreement of this place to continue the provisions that are contained in this regulation. Because of the nature of the way the regulation is written, we chose to sunset it on 30 December to give us the three months past the end of the six-month period, which is the second of the rolling three-month periods that we have in the primary legislation. But I assure you, I assure this place and I assure anybody that's listening that the government will be supporting Australians in every way it possibly can to get them from here to the other side of this crisis.

The CHAIR: The question is that the motion as moved by Minister Cormann, ZA501, as amended and republished at 9.06 pm, be agreed to.

Question agreed to.