Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (11:10): I've answered this, to some degree. I certainly became aware of the problem, and discussions were had across government, in September, I think. I know you will try and build this up as some timetable that shows that the government was trying to avoid scrutiny, and it's just not true.

We were trying to deal with an issue that had been identified, that had come to our attention. Senator Thorpe: Dezi Freeman—that's it! Senator GALLAGHER: I'm not referring to individuals.

An issue was identified by agencies, including the AFP, Services Australia, the Department of Social Services and AGD, and there was Education, though I'm not sure when Education came into it. We sought advice and we had to make some decisions about that. And that does take time.

This issue didn't come to us on our request. We didn't dream something up and say, 'Oh, great; we're going to draft another schedule to that bill and get it in there, and try and avoid anything.' That's the proposition you're putting. That is simply incorrect—absolutely incorrect—because I was involved in many of those discussions.

This is not something we sought out. In government, you do occasionally have problems that land in your lap that you've got to respond to and deal with, and they do take time, and, when they cover a number of agencies, you go through the standard process. And that's what we've done.

It aligned, as it turns out. It was under consideration, at least, from my point of view, throughout September, but there wasn't agreement on how to deal with it until we were able to finalise that and take all the necessary advice from our agencies.