Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Clearly, we are not getting very far. We have a minister who refuses to acknowledge that she made a commitment to Australian businesses that she would not increase their cost base. We have a minister who does not seem to understand what increasing the cost base is actually going to do to businesses in Australia. We have a minister who will not acknowledge that these changes are going to cost jobs. We have a minister who will not acknowledge that these changes are going to close down small businesses.

The amendments that we have proposed are sensible amendments that will alleviate some of the worst aspects of this bill. The one million Australians who will be out of work are not going to accept from the government their usual global alibi that they cannot do anything about this—‘It is all the result of the international financial situation and our hands are completely tied.’ When you ask the Deputy Prime Minister about employment, she comes to the dispatch box, shrugs her shoulders, says, ‘There’s nothing we can do,’ and goes off on a rant about Work Choices and John Howard. We have tried to help the government here. We have tried to improve this bill. I recommend again that the government accept these amendments. They are sensible amendments. They will save Australian jobs and they will save Australian small businesses.

Question put:

That the amendments (Mr Keenan’s) be agreed to.

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