Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

well, we do not know who it is; we are still working that out—came forward today to ask a question for the first time in 529 days. They doth protest just a little too much about small business. They are the party of small business, we are now being led to believe. You have discovered it! Small businesses are only most of the businesses in Australia. They only generate most of the employment in Australia. But you have suddenly discovered them and you have brought up small businesses here today in an MPI.

Is this MPI today about removing the red-tape and regulatory burden from small business? Is it about introducing some flexibility into the industrial relations system? The most important thing that a small business can have is some flexibility in the industrial relations system, recognising they are not big corporations, they are not big business and they are susceptible to rigid and inflexible labour market conditions. Is it about giving a small business owner a hand up so they can get on with employing people, creating jobs and employment? No, it is not.

Instead, we had monologues of absolute nonsense from the Labor Party, a mishmash of nothing—which, really, summarises their position in today's world. What are they all about? They do not really know. How are they going to do it? Somehow. 'We've got all the promises in the world, we've no method of delivering them and we don't really know what we're all about.' So today's issue of the day for the Labor Party is small business. They have discovered it! They have brought it forward: 'We're going to be about small business for today.'

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