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

What I would say is that the assertions that are made by those opposite clearly show that they do not understand what they actually voted for themselves when they were here in this place.

Second—

Senator Wong interjecting—

Senator Wong, I'm quite happy to take that interjection. In fact, I'm quite happy to continue to answer this question without even looking down. But there you go—you can waste as much time as you like in the answering of this question by your interjections. That's entirely up to you.

Those opposite show their extraordinary ignorance in their understanding of the budgetary process and the economy if they think that one measure in isolation is going to actually tell them the answer. The impact of the suite of measures that were put in place by our government has enabled this economy to be cushioned through a once-in-a-century pandemic that has totally destroyed the economies of every country around the world. And Australia yesterday demonstrated that despite the fact that Australia and Australians have been significantly impacted by this coronavirus, we have actually fared very well on the basis of the economic stimulus that our government put in place in March to support all Australian individuals and businesses throughout the pandemic.