Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I reject the analysis provided by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and the reason I reject it is that the analysis failed to take into account other benefits that have flowed, particularly to families, particularly to women and particularly to young people, out of the new regime. It is very hard to put an economic benefit on the value of job-sharing for women. It is very hard to put an economic benefit on the value of shift-sharing for women. It is very hard to put an economic benefit on the value of bringing more long-term unemployed people into the workplace than ever before, and the Labor Party is constantly opposing initiatives that help those most vulnerable in the community. None of our initiatives has had a greater impact on those most vulnerable than our changes to the industrial relations regime. The reason why, as the OECD says, was that the punitive laws of the Labor Party most disadvantaged women and young people who had been out of work for long periods of time.

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