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

Two days makes a lot of difference, Senator, if your job is at risk. If your job is at risk, it does make a lot of difference. If you look at the emails I am getting from small business, that is what they are saying. The opposition have taken a very political position on this. They have invested in the idea that the long-term argument about debt will work for them. What we say is this. Act responsibly and act as an alternative government. Do not get yourself into the sort of mess you got yourself into last year. Do not pretend you are a government waiting to return; act as an alternative government. Allow the government to get on and do its job.

I think when the Liberal Party take their weekend and go home and talk to some real people they will actually get a very different view of this. Go out—go down to the beach, go down to the cricket, go down to the parks—and talk to real people. Talk to real people who work in retail and who know the bonus that was paid last year saved their jobs. Talk to real people who think that the payment of the back-to-school bonus will actually help them make ends meet and help them continue to contribute to the economy. Talk to the small business people who know that the investment assistance will allow them to grow their business, maintain their business and provide jobs. Talk to real people. We often get isolated here, senators—we all do. We all go along to party meetings and convince ourselves how right we are. But go out and talk to real people. That is not their perspective. They want to know why the government is not acting.

I urge Senator Fielding—and I see he is in the chamber—to walk away from the deal he has done with Senator Minchin, to not be a patsy for the Liberal Party, to actually think about what he is doing. Senator Fielding claims to represent families and small business in this chamber. I ask him—