Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Minister for Families and Social Services, Minister for Women's Safety and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:19): I thank Senator Rice for her question. In the absence of actually having seen the comments to which Senator Rice refers, I won't make any specific comment about them, but what I will say is that I take my responsibility as the Minister for Families and Social Services extremely seriously, and the absolute, total focus of the activities of my office and my department is in making sure that we support the most vulnerable people in Australia. Unquestionably, that is our single purpose and role. Whether that be through providing them with payments, whether that be supporting them with working-age payments or whether that be through some of our pension— The PRESIDENT: Senator Rice? Senator Rice: Point of order, Mr President, on relevance. Even if the minister hasn't seen the statements, I said what they were and I'm just asking her: is she condemning people trapped in poverty as huge cost centres, as an underclass of Australians who are neglectful parents and almost entirely lacking in discipline? The PRESIDENT: Senator Rice, I've given you the chance to repeat part of the question. I cannot direct the minister how to answer the question. Minister, you have the call for a minute and 15 seconds. Senator RUSTON: I reiterate my initial comments. I am not going to make a comment about something that you're saying, but I will absolutely guarantee to this chamber, unequivocally, that my absolute focus is making sure that the resources of my department and the resources that are provided by the taxpayers of Australia are there to support vulnerable Australians and to make sure that we support them when they find themselves in situations, whether it be when they are unemployed, whether it be when they're victims of domestic violence. Whether it be supporting the states and territories in their frontline service provision or in the case of child protection and the like, the absolute focus of my department is always to support the most vulnerable people in our community. That is why we have always been so tremendously focused on not only creating jobs but actually working with Australians to get them out of unemployment. You refer to Anti-Poverty Week. Senator Thorpe interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Thorpe! Senator RUSTON: One of the key things to have come out of many of the reports—some released this week and others that have been released around this particular issue—is that we know that people who are on unemployment benefits do it way tougher than those people who have a job. That's why we're so focused on getting them into work. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister, please resume your seat. Order! I just asked for order in the chamber while questions were being asked. Senator Rice, a supplementary question?