Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a great opportunity for me to say it again. What an absolute disgrace it is that the Labor Party did not support the Registered Organisations Bill, in contrast to the likes of the former Labor Attorney-General Rob McClelland, in contrast to the likes of Martin Ferguson and in contrast to the likes of Bill Kelty, who all stood up and said, 'Yes, we do require this reform; we do need to put Australian workers first.' So thank you for the opportunity to make that point. It was a shameful day when the Labor Party would not support this vital industrial relations reform for our nation.

As I was saying, in May, the Minister for Employment, Senator Michaelia Cash, and I visited Kings Cars, one of the many local employers in our region, and spoke very, very proudly about the Youth PaTH employment program. It is getting a lot of support and we are very enthusiastic as to how we can work locally with our local employers to make sure that as many employers as possible take up this opportunity and give young people a chance—because that is what it is all about.

Everything our government is doing is about putting the Australian worker first and driving jobs, and we are so proud. I will take the opportunity to look at what we are doing locally. There is our massive investment in infrastructure, including, at long last, the $690 million that has been provided for rural and regional roads in Victoria. We had to drag the Labor Party kicking and screaming in Victoria on that one. There is more investment in rail and our huge commitment to Avalon Airport—all about driving jobs. There are our massive job creation programs, including a $20 million jobs and investment package for our region, which is very significant—looking at new investment, new opportunities, new industries and new jobs, including new jobs for young people. There is our Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund, which has created some 850 new jobs across our region. There is our $155 million Growth Fund. There is the Geelong Region Job Connections program, supporting lots of fantastic grassroots job creation programs, including supporting the Pivot Summit, which I will be very proudly opening on Friday—driving digital jobs, jobs for the future and jobs for young people.

There is our focus on advanced manufacturing. What a reflection it was on Labor when they committed only around $7 million to our region, in contrast to our very significant investments in advanced manufacturing, including an industry growth centre in advanced manufacturing and $4.7 million for Deakin University for the Future Fibres Research Hub. There is also our strong commitment to the National Stronger Regions Fund and our strong commitment to small and medium business—delivering those tax cuts. Back in 2011, the Labor Party were very supportive of tax cuts for small- and medium-size businesses. Back then they were being quite open with the Australian people and acknowledging that that did drive new jobs, more investment and more opportunities. But now we see in another blatant, pathetic case of politicking, led by the Leader of the Opposition, an illogical opposition to tax cuts for small business. Then there are our free trade agreements—again, all about driving jobs.

We are getting the economy boosted again—as we did when we abolished the carbon tax and the mining tax and stripped red tape—and proudly doing all these important things to drive jobs and investment. This is a very important bill for young people and for our nation, and I commend this bill to the House.

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