Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

The surveillance initiative is the one which has attracted the most media attention, not surprisingly. We hope that there will be greater focus on other areas, such as greater collection of information by existing enforcement officers and the fact that we have the power, which I referred to a little bit earlier, in relation to stopping people at airports. I would rather not give the member for Prospect a box and dice description of how we target people for defrauding the system, but it is fair to say there are certain indicators that will become immediately apparent.

Data matching plays a significant role in that. Data matching between CSA and Centrelink and between CSA and the tax office provide a significant basis upon which investigations can be undertaken. To give an example, it is highly likely that a non-custodial parent paying only $5 a week to support all of their children—not one child, but all of their children—will be on Newstart. Therefore, if it is reported that they have a lavish lifestyle: perhaps they are driving a Porsche and living in Sandy Bay, Toorak or Mosman—

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