Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the opposition’s amendment. I supported Senator Murray’s amendment and am aware of the change that the Labor Party have made to their amendments. I think that they are worthy of consideration. I too wish to express my frustration that the government has decided not to act on the trade practices amendments—whether that is because of internal dispute in the government or sheer bloody-mindedness, I do not know. But clearly there will be enormous disappointment in the small business community around Australia that the government has decided to move in this way and repeal these bills without having at the same time the complementary measures which would have meant that we could have done something in a holistic way in this parliament. We could have looked at a number of things as one package—that is done frequently. It has not been done on this occasion and as a result the small business community is missing out. It has been given a lick and a promise about what might come through and what the government may move in the future. I do not think that is good enough.

I think the small business community is already under enough pressure and there would not have been any difficulty for the government to bring through a package. The fact that it has chosen not to and has no good reason to cite to the Senate for not doing so is a matter of concern. The Australian community expects this parliament to act in the best interests of the nation, not to conduct their internal disputes in a legislative framework. That is the only assumption that I can draw from the government’s actions in this regard. It knows full well the changes that need to be made to the Trade Practices Act to make sure that we do get appropriate protection for small business. It has chosen not to do that and small business will draw its own conclusions as to which section of the business community the government actually supports. On this occasion it is advancing the cause of the major oil companies at the expense of small business. This is not accidental. It has made a deliberate decision to do so. I urge the government to get over its internal divisions and to support a holistic package. I support the opposition amendment.