Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Siewert, very much, for her question and for her absolutely genuine interest in this particular area of government policy. However, what I can say to Senator Siewert is that we still remain very much in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Nobody knows where this is going to end or when it's going to end. I don't think any of us have got a crystal ball. We've only got to look at what happened in Victoria in July. Almost overnight the Australian economy, which had been doing fabulously well to that stage, both economically and in its health response, was plunged back into a level of crisis in one of our states, Victoria. And we saw the devastating consequences that has had on the Victorian community, on the Victorian economy and obviously to the health, the livelihoods and the tragic loss of life that we have seen in Victoria during that time.

Equally, if you look overseas at the moment, there has been absolute devastation wreaked in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere by the acceleration of the spread of this particular virus. So we know we're in the midst of a pandemic, and right now this government is absolutely focused on continuing to provide the types of additional supports that we have promised and we have delivered right from the start of this pandemic. We said that we would stand side by side with Australians who were most impacted by the pandemic, and we've done that through a myriad of measures—through measures that Senator Cash has put in place, measures that Minister Hunt has put in place and measures that I have had responsibility for putting in place. We will continue to respond to the health and economic conditions to make sure that we provide additional supports while we see how this pandemic plays out. So, right now, Senator Siewert, I remain absolutely committed to looking at the economic and health conditions that are before us and making decisions in relation to the welfare, budget and the welfare policy that I administer to make sure that we continue to support Australians through this pandemic.