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Monday, 30 November 2009
Page: 9398


Senator NASH (8:41 PM) —Thank you, I think that would be quite useful. These will be my final couple of questions. I do understand that we want to move on. I do appreciate that the government is trying to compensate particularly low income households for their increased costs, but I am just struggling a little bit to find the rationale for why they should be overcompensated for the increase in costs. I think the minister just said it was $544 in this particular instance, yet the government was going to pay $1,000. I am at a loss as to the rationale for why they should be overcompensated for what are the identified increases. Given the obvious variable nature of these costs, I would also be interested to know how the government has determined to budget for that, taking into account this overcompensation. Perhaps the minister could advise of some answers to those questions and, indeed, the very important question of when this assistance runs out. I am sure the minister is going to inform me that it is in the papers here somewhere, but perhaps for those people listening it would be very useful for the minister to place on record exactly when this assistance runs out and at which point all of these families should expect that they are going to have to bear the full brunt of the ETS, unless of course it is ongoing forever. If it is ongoing forever that would be good to place on record.