Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

They stand today for the betrayal of Australian businesses, and I suspect he is embarrassed by that.

On the question that the member asked me: there is nothing that drives this government more than ensuring that Australian people have the benefits of work and the dignity of work. That is why we worked so hard during the global financial crisis, against the relentless negativity of the opposition, to support jobs. We did not want to see hundreds of thousands of Australians thrown on the scrap heap. We did not want to see young people who came of age during those economic circumstances losing the opportunity for an apprenticeship and a start in the world of work. So we supported jobs; the opposition did not. We continue to support jobs and the opposition does not. That is the track record in this parliament. That track record has been added to today by the betrayal by the opposition of businesses, because, as they betray businesses on this tax cut, they are betraying working people as well.

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