Mr HOWARTH (Petrie—Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services) (15:41): I rise today to speak on this matter with pleasure. Of course the former Leader of the Opposition would oppose this, wouldn't he? I mean, he has put forward failed attempts at good policies. They were most recently clearly rejected at the last election. There was some $387 billion in new taxes. I'm sure he didn't tell Tim and the rest of the gallery about all the new taxes that he was looking to impose on young working people and on other Australians. The taxes were clearly rejected. They included higher taxes on their housing and higher taxes on their superannuation. Tim and other people that are looking to buy their first home at the moment can put their money into the First home super saver scheme, saving $2,000 a year in tax. Of course, the former Leader of the Opposition, the member for Maribyrnong, wanted to take that away. One thing that is clear is that the former Leader of the Opposition has not learned anything. We know that he used to go down to Victoria and say, 'We're against coal,' and then he'd go up into Queensland and say, 'I'm for coal.' In my own electorate on 9 May, with the candidate who ran against me, at Redcliffe Hospital the former opposition leader clearly spelt out: … we want to make sure that people aren't receiving welfare to which they're not entitled to. And no one gets a leave pass on that. But now, four months later, after losing the election, he comes in and here and raises this as though the government is treating people unfairly. It's hypocrisy. That's what it is. Let me clarify this. The online compliance intervention scheme doesn't target vulnerable Australians. It seeks to ensure that people are doing the right thing and not taking more taxpayer funds than they are entitled to. The government is not considering any proposal to commence online compliance for sensitive and vulnerable Australians. There are no plans to pilot compliance reviews for sensitive and vulnerable Australians at all. Any customer experiencing hardship or distress or who is vulnerable can seek assistance from the department either online or by calling the dedicated compliance phone number. And you know what else? They can come and see the Department of Human Services. They can come and see their member of parliament as 15 people in my own electorate have done. They've come to my office. They've come to see me, and I've strived to work through that with them. There are 12 senators in each state; people can also see them as well. They can also appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal if they're not happy with the decision. As we know, it is an independent government agency. Now, there are many payments that this could take into account, whether it's Newstart, Austudy or youth allowance. Government payments are there for people in times of need and are there to offer a helping hand but they're not there for people who want to do the wrong thing, and some people fall into that category. I know that in my own electorate there are some cases where people have been fraudulent. That's a fact. That is an absolute fact, for those opposite, and that's what your former leader said at the press conference in my own electorate. … no-one gets a leave pass on that. But obviously there are some cases where people make an honest mistake. One gentleman in my own electorate forgot to put down his wife's earnings superannuation withdrawal on his form in relation to her own super, and we endeavoured to help him out. The average Australian contributes more than a month of their working wage to support the welfare system. The Australian welfare system is one of the most generous in the world, with pensions for people who need it; the NDIS—a great system—helping people with a disability, including many people in my own electorate; Newstart for people who are looking to get back into the workforce; and disability payments for people. But Australians want to make sure that the taxes that they pay are well spent and that they're not being taken advantage of. If someone is caught out doing the wrong thing and they owe money, it needs to be repaid. It's that simple: it needs to be repaid. Taxpayer funds need to be accounted for and used properly. I know that people in my own electorate certainly support that. I say to the Department of Human Services and the Department of Social Services, particularly to the people in the Centrelink offices in my electorate, at Deception Bay and Margate: thank you for the work that you do. You've got a tough job dealing with people every day. I ask that, if people are caught up in this and they get a letter, be patient and treat the people at Centrelink with respect. You can come to my office and talk to me. But, for those opposite, once again it's all about politics.