Senator NEWMAN (Family and Community Services; Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women) (11:27 AM) —In answer to Senator Harris, it is not unusual where people do get advances currently in social security that, depending on their personal circumstances, the rate of payment of an advance can be negotiated, and it is constantly. If somebody were to take the full $500 of their special advance—and they do not have to take the full amount—it would usually be repaid at the rate of 14 per cent of their payment. Therefore, it would take about six months. I do not think that is unfair, when it is the taxpayer helping them to get back into the work force. It is more generous, as I said earlier, than the employment entry payment.

What I particularly like about it is that it is available to a number of people who currently cannot get the employment entry payment because they are still on a part Newstart allowance and are taking up part-time work. If that job does not pan out—which sometimes does happen, for a variety of reasons—then they can come back again and get another advance. They are not restricted to one a year if they are going into that stage in their lives when they are trying valiantly to take a succession of part-time jobs to get back into the work force properly again. I think it is a pretty fair kind of thing—fair to the taxpayer and fairer to the person than what is currently provided with the employment payment which we are proposing now to abolish with the introduction of this measure.

The TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN (Senator Calvert) —The question is that schedule 3, part 2 stand as printed.

Question resolved in the negative.