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

In terms of Senator Pratt's argument, I'm not convinced that the amendments as they're constructed achieve the outcome she's claiming in any event. However, the payroll test is a genuine payroll test. Senator Pratt seems to be assuming that, just because one person works fewer hours, you somehow still achieve a payroll rise by the second person coming on board. That's not necessarily the case. That's why we designed it with the duality of tests to make sure that we have maximum incentives for additional people to get that start in life. Indeed, we know that that start in life—that opportunity to get a job and start a job—provides the platform for further shifts, further hours and further jobs. That is what we see as being crucial in terms of getting people off that awful treadmill of unemployment.