Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are being lectured by members opposite, who self-profess to have the interests of small business at heart when, just this morning, they were given an opportunity to flag some legislation through to be there ready to be passed by the Senate when it reconvenes. This is a government that earlier this week said that the priority this week was getting this package through. We could not possibly have a debate about issues of equality going on in the country because we had to get the small business package through.

This morning Labor gave them that gift—here it is, let's vote on it right here and right now. And what happened? They all voted against their own legislation. It is the centrepiece of their budget, that was supposed to be about stimulating jobs in this country, and they could not back it up in this chamber. They crossed the floor and voted against their own legislation. Do not think for one moment that that will not go unnoticed by the Australian people!

Let us have a look at this budget. It has been nothing but a missed opportunity from a government which clearly is much more concerned about keeping its own job than in creating new jobs for the Australian people. The only jobs that this government are interested in are their very own, not the millions of jobs of Australians in work, those seeking work or those preparing for the jobs of the future; not the 8.1 per cent of people in Newcastle who are looking for a job; not the jobs of thousands of families with mums and dads struggling against cost-of-living pressures; and not the jobs of nurses, doctors, policemen and women, the cleaners, the ship workers, the builders or the hospitality workers. They are not interested in the TAFE students and their preparations for a career into the future. They do not care about the university students studying for a professional degree in their chosen field. They are just interested in protecting their own jobs.

Let's have a look. We do know one thing about this government, despite its self-professed interest in small business. Labor has always welcomed this package, as the member for Gorton pointed out—it is Labor policy that they are now implementing. We are very happy about that! We are always happy for the government to come forward, backing good ideas from the Labor Party. But we know that when this Prime Minister starts saying that he is here to help small business that it is actually worth having a bit of a look at the track record. It is always good to have a look at what governments do rather than just the talk. What we do know about this government is that it has a solid record in failing to protect the living standards and working conditions of Australian men and women.

They dance to the tunes belted out by their mates at the IPA. The record is clear. Before the election, the Prime Minister tried to convince the Australian people that, if elected, he would not make any substantial changes to the workplace relations landscape. Remember that promise to the Australian people? No—Work Choices is dead, buried and cremated. We were not going to touch that. What have we seen since? We have seen no fewer than 10 coalition MPs come out calling for the abolition or cutting of penalty rates, including members of the front bench. Who was it who said:

… we cannot go on in a society where we are charging people on a day which is a normal operating day double what you would on any other, …

That was the junior minister for infrastructure, I do believe.

And who was it who said:

If you don't want to work on a weekend, fair enough, don't work on a weekend, …

I think that was the Prime Minister. Well, I can assure the Prime Minister that not all our nurses, our firefighters, our policemen and women, the low-paid hospitality workers and our retail workers actually want to work on a weekend. But, let's face it, none of them have a choice.

We have seen the government launch an all-encompassing Productivity Commission review into the Fair Work laws. That means every workplace right and every workplace condition is now potentially on the chopping block, including penalty rates and—as we have seen this week—the minimum wage.

But let's have a look at what is perhaps one of the greatest issues that we found with penalty rates in terms of the biggest backflip of all by this government, and that is the attack on paid parental leave. First we had, 'Paid Parental Leave over my dead body'. Then the Prime Minister tried to roll out his signature policy. Now, he just wants to attack 80,000 Australian mothers, who he labels as 'double-dipping, fraudulent rorters'. Shame on you, Prime Minister!

What about the retail workers— (Time expired)

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