Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

I turn to the third amendment in the 10 that we are moving. What we have outlined here is to call on the minister to consider the action that needs to be taken to increase the cap from $150,000 to $200,000 and, within 90 days of the commencement of this section, report on what the minister has done or plans to do to have the cap increased and, if the minister has not done and does not plan to do anything, the minister's reasons for this. You can do all of those things in a manner that is consistent with the review, except if the review were to say, 'Well, I guess we don't want to recognise the rest of the public debate that clearly argues that the cap is too low, that $150,000 is an inadequate cap and that it needs to be increased to $200,000.'

I do not understand why, when you're heading into negotiations with the states, you would not want to be armed with the demonstrable will of the Senate and, indeed, the parliament to show that there is a clear position that the cap should be increased. It doesn't restrain you in any way, other than committing you to working through a process on what actions you will undertake to increase the cap.