Senator STOTT DESPOJA (11:47 AM) —I extend my thanks to the Minister for Social Security (Senator Newman) for accepting our amendment. Just to clarify it, we have debated our amendment No.2 but we have not debated amendment 3 on sheet 858.

I think that will alleviate some of Senator Margetts' concerns, as the minister has said, and will enable a degree of flexibility—as is, I presume, intended by the legislation. We too recognise that this power potentially could be used as some kind of punitive mechanism and could be open to abuse; that was the rationale behind making it a disallowable instrument. I am glad to hear it has some support.