Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I'll respond quickly to Senator Patrick. This program is being delivered, albeit, not with quite the same urgency and immediate effect as those we dealt with earlier in the year, with a high degree of urgency and import as we respond to the economic circumstances we face. It is not unusual for governments, particularly in relation to grant type programs, to establish an overarching architecture under legislation for those programs and then to embed the detailed operation within rules that sit alongside them.

That's the approach the government has taken here. We do so consistent with the promises that we've made, in terms of consultation and engagement, on the way through as well. This approach not only is consistent with previous practice and timely but also provides the best opportunity to have certainty that the program will exist and be legislated, delivering on the promises we made in the budget, whilst being able to work in an agile way with stakeholders to make sure that the rules reflect their concerns as effectively as possible.