John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Oh, did you! Can we have that again? It is because they did. Oh, deary me, I have been in total ignorance of that fact for 10 years and so have 20 million Australians! These reforms are not extreme; these reforms are measured improvement to the labour market laws of this country. Now that they are implemented we will still have a labour market that is more highly regulated than the labour market of New Zealand or the United Kingdom. The truth is that this country’s continued economic prosperity is dependent upon having people in charge who have the courage to continue the process of reform. By his question, the Leader of the Opposition has demonstrated that he lacks the courage to embrace the reforms that are needed for Australia’s future.

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