Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

The government will always consider the adequacy of payments in every budget and every budget update that we do. We have done that since coming to government. I would point out to Senator Allman-Payne that we have increased the rate of JobSeeker by more than $4,300 per year to $817.50 per fortnight for singles. We've also delivered record increases to Commonwealth rent assistance—a 25 per cent increase in that. We have frozen PBS scripts at $7.70 for people on concession or on pensions, JobSeeker and youth allowance.

So I accept that we need to continue to engage and consider cost-of-living responses to the economic circumstances that we face, but this bill does not seek to do that. This is around the methodical response to issues around legal authority that Minister Plibersek and I have been working through in a careful and considered way. I accept the Greens have a view about adequacy of payments, but that is not what this bill is about, so I would just bring it back to what we're trying to do here, which is to actually ensure that urgent payments are provided in a lawful way.