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

Thanks very much, Senator Rice, and thank you for your comments in relation to the impact of changing the eligibility here. It is going to change the lives of 60,000 families in September, in a very substantial way. It's a $1.9 billion change. It is a very substantial measure. The government and the minister sought advice at all levels from the department about how the changes to this payment could be made best, most reliably and in the most sound way possible, in legal and policy delivery terms. I hear your cynicism, but 20 September is the most ambitious timetable that could be delivered. The government is determined to deliver it. It is, of course, as I say, contingent on the rapid progress of this piece of legislation through the Senate and the House of Representatives this week.