Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the member for Bass. He sat down short when he had time to speak on this matter. He did not use all of the time allocated to him, so the dignified thing for him to do would be to be quiet now that someone else is at the dispatch box.

We had great expectations when we were told that repeal day was coming up—19 March was going to be one of the most anticipated days in the parliamentary calendar. They banged on about it for weeks. They were going to be stripping billions of dollars of regulatory burdens from small businesses. It was going to remove the weight of legislation holding the country back. Understandably, we came to this debate in parliament, on 19 March, with great expectations. They were promising fireworks.

An honourable member: A bonfire.

A bonfire.

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

You can imagine our disappointment when they promised us fireworks, but, when we got here on 19 March, instead of fireworks we were all handed a few sparklers. There was nothing in the legislation. It was a great fizzer.

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