Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister: how can the government give 20 billion to businesses with rising earnings but not support a permanent pay increase to aged-care workers, which would help address chronic work shortages?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the matter that was raised in the question, the JobKeeper program saved 700,000 jobs. And they won't put it in the question that that's what they're referring to. They'll sneakily not mention that what they're referring to is the JobKeeper program, that saved 700,000 jobs at a time when the Australian people were looking into the abyss of a pandemic nobody understood or had any idea about what would occur, this government stood up and we put JobKeeper in place. And the very next morning, when hundreds of thousands of Australians were going to lose their jobs and not know how they were going to put food on the table for their families, and businesses who had worked for decades to put their businesses in place were fearing that their businesses were going to fall over, this government stood up. This government stood up with the single-largest income support program—

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bendigo.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

as a partnership between business, the government and the financial sector to save this country's economy.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gorton.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Now, those opposite like to pretend to bipartisanship on many issues. They like to pretend to it, and they'll try to do it before this year's election. But what I know is they talk out both sides of their mouth. They say they support JobKeeper, but they come in here and they bag it. They say they support us on national security, but then they speak out the other side of their mouth. You can't have an each-way bet on Australia's economy. You can't have an each-way bet on national security. And there's no safety in anyone taking a one-way bet on this leader of the Labor Party.

A government member interjecting

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nice try! The member for Ryan.