Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

If the Leader of the Opposition is saying that the Labor Party in the Senate will ensure that this legislation goes through the parliament within a fortnight—without any inquiries, it simply goes through the Senate—I am delighted. This is a rare piece of bipartisanship in the parliament, and I thank the Leader of the Opposition for extending the hand of magnanimity on this subject. After all the damage that Labor did to small business over six years, it is high time that they made it up to small business with this measure. But I am delighted. I do look forward to this measure going through the parliament because I want to see the small businesses of Australia out there investing, employing and serving their communities. That is what I want to do. I am proud of the Treasurer and the Minister for Small Business. I am proud of the government more generally for coming up with this measure and I am pleased that Labor now says that they will give an absolute iron-clad guarantee that it will pass through the parliament in the next fortnight.

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