Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Tyrrell, for that question. As I've made the point on numerous occasions during the course of this week, and before that, we do understand that many Australians are doing it tough with the combination of high inflation and the fact that the Reserve Bank is pushing up interest rates in this country. There is a mechanism for dealing with all of these issues, and you might have noticed from my previous answer the steps that this government is trying to take to ensure that those people who have an entitlement to something from Centrelink are actually able to go and see a person, talk to them and discuss their particular circumstances.

This government doesn't want to make things worse for any Australian, and all the things that we have been trying to do to put downward pressure on interest rates and the cost of living are designed to help the people in these circumstances who you're talking about. We're going to continue to do that, Senator Tyrrell, and we're going to try to provide assistance—particularly to those Australians who are doing it tough right now and who need it the most.