Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

and with no choice. This is why they are reeling. I appreciate that I may have taken a slight liberty in this regard, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I do want to draw to your attention, and to the attention of the House, that small businesses are concerned that every time the government talk about their industrial relations agenda they say that the changes are attributable to the demands made of them by small businesses. This is clearly wrong. As you would appreciate from what is happening in your own electorate, Mr Deputy Speaker Lindsay, this is not the reality when it comes to what local members are seeing in their connections with relevant small business operators in their electorates. But I do heed your caution in this regard, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I put on record that small businesses are sick and tired of being used in this debate and of being quoted by people like Mr Hendy who purport to represent small business, when everybody knows these industrial relations changes are about the big end of town and about industry driving the wage agenda.

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