Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, Minister, to badger you on this, but I know that you guys agreed to $150,000, and the Victorian government and first the New South Wales government, with their model legislation, became your Commonwealth legislation. But somebody, somewhere in the federal government, came up with an idea that we should offer the maximum, which very few people will get—that we should offer a figure which is $50,000 less than the royal commissioner recommended. I need to know—I'd love to know—who came up with that figure? I know you agreed—the federal government, the Victorian government and the New South Wales government—but who came up with the figure? Why wasn't it $160,000? Why wasn't it $25,000? You ignored the royal commission and came up with a figure of $150,000.