Answers to Questions

Walker defended the government's housing strategy, noting that over 260,000 Australians had used the five per cent deposit scheme with low arrears rates. Walker highlighted investments in social and affordable rental homes and infrastructure to unlock new housing supply. Walker argued that the coalition lacked a solution and pointed out that negative equity rates had decreased significantly compared to 2019.

Liddle criticised the government's use of algorithms for aged care assessments, arguing they lacked human oversight and failed to account for individual needs. Liddle cited a case where a blind woman's support for guide dogs was reduced under the new home support scheme. Liddle claimed that approximately 5,000 people on the aged care waiting list had died after being assessed, indicating systemic failure.

Ananda-Rajah defended the integrated assessment tool, comparing it to clinical decision support tools used in medicine to reduce bias. Ananda-Rajah explained that the tool was developed over several years and clinically validated on datasets of over 100,000 people. Ananda-Rajah stated that only 0.5 per cent of assessments were under review and argued the system delivered more equitable care than the previous subjective model.

Canavan criticised Export Finance Australia for providing a US$171 million loan to a government-owned Indian corporation without involving any Australian businesses. Canavan argued this investment did not support Australian jobs or industry and questioned why an Australian business seeking to provide mining services in India was rejected. Canavan attributed the rejection to the government's focus on net zero emissions rather than supporting Australian exports.