Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition wants to have some sort of arcane argument about whether the package created 45,000 jobs or 50,000 jobs. Australians know that there are deeply frightening economic times confronting them and that their jobs are at risk, their financial security is at risk and their small businesses are at risk. They want the government they elected to act. That is what we want to do. We are asking the Senate to respect the votes of the Australian people and allow the government to act.

What we have seen in recent days is a debate in this parliament as to process, as if we have got time to spend a lot of time arguing about how we might handle it. I am sure Australians who got up this morning and looked at what occurred in the House of Representatives last night would have been absolutely distressed to see what were hairy-chested arguments—arguments while Rome burns, if you like—about minutia when what we need is leadership. The government are trying to provide leadership. We are trying to get support across the board to provide an economic stimulus to protect jobs—