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

I thank Senator Polley very much for her question, because it's obviously a very important issue this week. I'll make a couple of points before I go to the direct question that you asked, Senator Polley. First of all, the decision that has been made by the Morrison government, that was announced yesterday by me and the Prime Minister, related to the extension of temporary measures. I would point out that when a government spends $3.2 billion you can hardly refer to that as a cut. So $3.2 billion of additional funding will be made available to Australians in the first three months of 2021 to continue to provide elevated levels of support for people, particularly those people that have been hardest hit by the COVID pandemic.

I would also like the opportunity to advise the chamber that not only has the coronavirus supplement been extended, again—it was extended on 25 September—it will be, again, extended on 1 January for a further three months. But there are a number of other very important measures. I know Senator Siewert will probably understand the importance of some of these other measures; whereas, perhaps, you are not particularly interested, on the other side. By extending the eligibility criteria, many, many more Australians who otherwise would previously not have been able to get access to payment currently are being able to get access to payment.