Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Where was the Labor Party and the Leader of the Opposition when the member for Lalor crucified a hardworking small business in the form of the Lilac City Motor Inn? Where were they? Obviously it is quite convenient to use and abuse, just as Sharan Burrow wanted some family disaster, someone to die for them, to make a political point. The family-run Lilac City Motor Inn and the family that had built up that business, that relied on that income, were totally dispensable and to be used—in the words of another long departed from parliament Labor Party power broker—for ‘whatever it takes’, and that is exactly what drives the Labor Party. Whatever lies it takes, whatever obfuscation it takes, whatever facade it takes, they are desperate—and they are desperate to win government at this year’s federal election.

They talk about working families. Working families have experienced a growth in jobs. We have seen not only 2.1 million new jobs created up to March 2006 but also an unemployment rate of 4.3 per cent. No family can begin to plan for their future, no family can begin to dream— (Time expired)

See this speech in context