Mr FLETCHER (Bradfield—Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts) (14:53): I thank the member for Robertson, who has a very strong commitment to seeing that people in her electorate and around Australia who are entitled to the support of the social services system receive that support. That can only happen thanks to the stability and certainty of the strong budget that the Morrison government has delivered. Over five million people depend on social services for their primary source of income—some 2½ million people on the age pension, and people also on Newstart, the disability support pension and many other working-age income support benefits. There are also many others who depend, in part, on benefits delivered through the social services system, such as the family tax benefit. Indeed, social security and welfare, this year, will comprise some $180 billion of expenditure—more than a third of the entire Commonwealth budget. We can deliver this support because we have a strong budget. Every dollar that is paid to somebody under the social services and welfare budget is a dollar that has to be collected from another Australian in tax, so it's very important that our commitments are sustainable. Our promise to the Australian people is that if you meet the eligibility conditions then you're able to receive a payment. But if the social services and welfare system is not sustainable then you potentially have a problem. Under the previous government, social security and welfare expenditure was growing at roughly twice the rate of tax revenue. That is not a sustainable position. Under this government, we've got that under control. The rate of growth of tax revenue now exceeds the rate of growth of welfare expenditure, and that means if, as an Australian, you are entitled to receive a benefit then you can be confident that, when you turn up to claim the benefit to which you are entitled, the government will be able to pay it. It's a very important proposition. We've made it our priority to get people off welfare and into the workforce. Some 1.4 million jobs have been created since we came to government. There are 230,000 fewer people of working age on welfare, as at June 2018, compared to four years earlier. In fact the level of the working-age population on welfare, at 14.3 per cent, is at its lowest level in 30 years. We are making sure that welfare is available for those who need it and we are helping those who are not in work to return to the workforce. And it all depends on having a strong budget, which gives stability and certainty, underpinning our social services system.