Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Don't worry—we're onto you! We're onto you! We also see these members across here constantly attacking penalty rates. That's what's hurting families in the regions: your constant war against penalty rates for people in the regions who rely on them. We have here a National Party that supports cuts to penalty rates. Time and time again, we hear them supporting it.

Let's never forget that every single National Party member in this House has had eight opportunities in this parliament to protect penalty rates. And what have they done each time? They've voted against them. Every single time, they've abandoned the people of the regions. Eight times they had that opportunity and they chose not to protect penalty rates, each and every single time.

It's very clear that there's only one way to protect penalty rates, and that's to elect a Shorten Labor government. As I said, governments are all about choices and priorities. The Turnbull government has abandoned Australia and the regions by choosing to give the banks that big handout. But it's the National Party that has really abandoned those people in the regions. It's only Labor that will stand up for the country—only Labor.

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