Fran Bailey (McEwen, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for his question and his very strong support of small businesses in his electorate. I can tell him, and all members in the House, that Work Choices has cut red tape and has delivered the flexibility to enable small business to grow and to employ more people. One year on, Work Choices is still about job creation. It is about low levels of unemployment. It is about continued growth of real wages. Most importantly, it has been about getting rid of unfair dismissal and allowing small business to have the confidence to employ more people. I am talking about small business people like Mr Phil Connelly, a small business man from the Gold Coast. He has said: ‘Following the inception of Work Choices, I have employed six additional staff members. Staff are enjoying the flexibility of AWAs, which includes a number of financial incentives.’

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