Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

This year, 2020, has been difficult for many. It's been a difficult year because of the twin crises of health and economic fallout from COVID-19. This year has shown us many things. It's shown us how resilient we are as a nation; it's shown us how important it is to have a government that, through strong economic management, has been able to manage this crisis with a balanced budget; and it's shown us, in so many ways, how we've been able to adapt to such an uncertain environment.

I'm proud as a member of the Morrison government, as I'm sure my colleague the member for Braddon is, that the measures we have put in place and continue to work on have helped save lives, and they've saved livelihoods. I'm pleased to be able to speak to people in my electorate about our plan for the future as we all play our part in the economic recovery. We've had to be flexible in our lives like never before about how we interact with our family and friends, how we go about our day-to-day activities and—probably the most significant—how we work.

We heard earlier today, in question time, the Attorney-General outline the importance of that flexibility in the workplace, in keeping people in jobs and saving livelihoods. But Australian workplaces have been changing and evolving for many years. We have seen a consistent rise in workers taking career breaks and in part-time or job-share arrangements to be able to raise their children. Mr Deputy Speaker Wallace, you know that a few weeks ago my wife and I welcomed our second child, our beautiful baby girl, Isabelle, into our family.

See this speech in context