Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Minister for Families and Social Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:14): I thank Senator Siewert for her question and can I acknowledge her ongoing and longstanding interest in this particular area. First of all, nobody has ever said it would be easy to live on Newstart. And I can assure you that the government's—of which I am a member—absolute No. 1 priority is to make sure that anybody who's currently on Newstart is given the best opportunity to get a job. Newstart was never meant to be a salary or a wage replacement; it's a safety net. I acknowledge that it wouldn't be easy to live on Newstart; however, this government remains absolutely committed to anybody who is on Newstart. We will do everything we possibly can to get them a job. The track record that we have in this place over the term of this government— The PRESIDENT: Senator Siewert, on a point of order. Senator Siewert: I tried to be pretty specific when asking why the government continues to refer to this as a transition payment when somebody's on it for three years. I'd like the minister to specifically address that issue, please. The PRESIDENT: You've reminded the minister of the nature of your question. I'll listen carefully. I call the minister to continue. Senator RUSTON: As I said, the most important thing that we can do as a government and as a nation for people who find themselves without a job is to create the jobs that they need and then create the pathways to get access to those jobs. This government, the government of which I'm a member, has a great track record of job creation, with 1.3 million jobs created since we've been in government. And we have a plan to create more jobs, over one million more jobs. The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Ruston. Senator Di Natale, on a point of order. Senator Di Natale: On relevance: you've drawn the minister to the specific point made in the question. There wasn't a long preamble; it's very direct. It was: why does the government refer to Newstart as a transitional payment when the average length of time is three years? I ask you to direct the minister to the question. The PRESIDENT: I ask the minister to turn to the nature of the question given that she's had an opportunity to address relevant material—to be directly relevant to the length of time or the reason the government uses terminology—but she can be directly relevant by referring to the length of time people are on Newstart as well. That was part of the question. Senator RUSTON: In continuing my response to the senator's question, I was actually trying to draw to the senator's attention that the creation of jobs is the best way that we can get people off Newstart and to make sure they're on Newstart for a shorter period of time. If the jobs aren't available in the economy for people who are on Newstart and who are looking for a job, then that makes it extremely difficult. As I said: 1.3 million jobs since we've been in government and a plan to create more than a million more. But it's not just about creating jobs; it's also about creating the pathways to those jobs, which we also see as a very important part of the government's role. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Siewert, a supplementary question.