Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The parliamentary secretary at the table might enjoy this quote. This is the Treasurer talking about small business paperwork where he says:

‘We successfully gave the impression of something being done without anything substantive being done.’

That is the Treasurer boasting:

‘We successfully gave the impression of something being done without anything substantive being done.’

He was boasting about pulling the wool over the eyes of small business by pretending that they were doing something to help small business when in fact they had done nothing. After years of neglect, years of ignoring the concerns of small business and years of ignoring the concerns of the ACCC, we now have the mother of all backflips with the adoption of amendments written by Chief Justice Barnaby Joyce at the Birdsville pub.

No wonder this government is viewed cynically. This is a cynical attempt to smudge the issues at the last minute. The government have no idea what the consequences of these amendments will be. Government advisers have admitted as such in private to certain business lobbyists; they have admitted that they do not know what the implications of the bill, as amended, are. We accept as a fait accompli that it will go through, but we will monitor it very closely and will continue to press our amendments to make section 46 work as was intended.

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