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

In terms of Senator Patrick's framing of minimums and maximums, I'm not aware that estimates have been put in those terms. I will commit to bringing to the chamber and Senator Patrick's attention any further information I can provide on that. The current estimated cost of the support for New South Wales, and the lockdown occurring in New South Wales, with the flow of COVID-19 disaster assistance payments and the business support payments, in partnership with the New South Wales government, is running at about $750 million a week. In that sense, we can see the ongoing costs there. Obviously, the costs vary significantly from state to state, as we have seen, from the duration of lockdowns. South Australia's lockdown lasted only one week, Victoria's lockdown lasted a few weeks and there is an uncertain situation in Queensland. So it is very hard to accurately put an estimate on the cost of current supports given their relationship to the uncertainty around the spread of the delta variant where there may be outbreaks and the duration that restrictions remain in place.