Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I was elected in 2016, I made a commitment to represent my community and work for the Australian people. Yesterday, when the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources encouraged the Australian people to boycott Coles and ALDI and to shop at Woolworths instead, he failed to mention that both he and his wife have shares in Woolworths and would directly benefit from the increase in their profits. That's working for the Australian people, isn't it! I wonder how many of the minister's constituents work at these supermarkets and would face losing shifts and even their jobs if Australians actually took his advice?

This isn't the first time he's disregarded his constituents. Last year it was reported that the government's crackdown on payday lenders and appliance companies was at risk due to internal opposition. This legislation would cap the amount a consumer could spend on rental items and, in the words of the Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, 'stop vulnerable people from being exploited in paying over and above prices for goods because they don't have the capacity to pay and fork out the cash on day one'. Well, it seems the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources has a vested interest in this legislation too. He owned an appliance rental company at the time, which charged four times the regular retail price for goods like laptops and fridges. The Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources is embarrassing, and he's not working for all Australians like we will.