Senator GEORGE CAMPBELL —My question is to Senator Newman, the Minister for Social Security. Can the minister confirm advice given by Centrelink that many construction workers will now be deemed to be seasonal workers and as such will be required to wait for a much longer period before they become eligible for job search allowance? Is it true that the construction worker who earns $35,000 over a 26-week period and is then laid off at the completion of the job, would be precluded from accessing job search allowance for a period of 24 weeks? Is it also true that, prior to the government's new privatised employment arrangements, construction workers became entitled to unemployment benefits on termination? What has the government got against construction workers?

Senator NEWMAN (Social Security) —I think perhaps the most succinct way of answering that question is to point out to the senator that that legislation has just passed through the Senate with the support of his own party.