Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

It's an important point to make: the government actively seeks advice. We are not a closed door to different views.

Most different views, Senator Ruston. We actually want to engage with the community sector, who, of course, will have ambition in these areas. We want to engage with the business community about welfare reform. We want to engage with the trade union movement about welfare reform. We are not afraid of alternative views, and we are prepared to engage with that; the government has engaged with that. This is a $1.9 billion expansion of eligibility. There are 60,000 single principal carers currently on the JobSeeker payment whose youngest child is under 14 who will transfer to the single parent payment on 20 September 2023. That is a very big group of Australians for whom this will make a very big difference. And I will just make the point again that the government is happy to engage in here on these questions, just as we are happy to engage with the community. This is a very substantial increase; it is a very substantial change. It has been welcomed right across the sector, but I take the point, of course, that people in the community have argued for more, and that will continue to be the case.