Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The thing that's really stuck out for me throughout this year has been that the response from the Morrison government has been varied and has enabled a very tailored response to the coronavirus challenge and the pandemic that we're dealing with. We've got a mix of cases. We've got to face all sorts of problems and challenges across the country in dealing with the economic impact of the coronavirus challenge, and the coronavirus supplement has enabled people to provide for their families at a time when, having dealt with the immediate shock of maybe being stood down from their job, they don't have secure employment because they've lost their job. The coronavirus supplement has enabled them to meet those important needs, but it's actually part of a tapestry of responses. It wasn't the only thing that the government did, and we of course know about the JobKeeper payment.

When you go around Western Australia, as I've been able to do, and you speak to businesses, you speak to people on the ground, you get a real appreciation of the impact that that program has had in making sure that people were able to remain connected to their employer. That's much better than having to go on to the JobSeeker payment, because those people were able to remain connected to their employer. What we've seen throughout this time is a remarkable response from the Morrison government in ensuring that there's a tapestry of support, a real mix of support, to ensure that that support is getting to where it's needed, so that individuals and families are not left high and dry, so they're not just left out on their own, but they're actually supported. We've seen that across the board—the housing stimulus has enabled tradies to keep their jobs. So I think, as we're discussing this, the coronavirus supplement has been incredible in ensuring that individuals who weren't able to take up those sorts of opportunities that came through the stimulus have had the opportunity to be able to receive that support.