Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, plumbers, electricians and carpenters are the big end of town, Senator Macdonald! There has been widespread support for the government’s initiative including from the Master Builders Association, the Urban Taskforce, Westfield and Access Economics. The exception, of course, once again, is those opposite, who remain focused and determined to play short-term politics at the expense of Australian working families and all of those who depend on them. This is, quite frankly, a disgraceful piece of conduct. There are going to be Australian families who have people who become unemployed because of the voting, in this chamber and the other place, of those opposite. It is wilful economic vandalism and they deserve to be condemned across Australia. There are Australian families and Australian children whose parents will come home unemployed because of those opposite and their opportunistic— (Time expired)