Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

It will not. The employers will be paying the mining tax and, as the Henry tax review has indicated, that will mean lower wages for workers. Senator Sherry has himself followed the example of his leader: set out to deceive, repeat the deception and hope that somehow, miraculously, if you repeat the deception often enough it might become a truth. It will not become a truth. And, what is more, when he says there are going to be benefits for all small businesses, what he fails to tell the Australian people is that only 30 per cent of small businesses have a company structure. The 70 per cent of Australian small businesses which do not have a company structure—that is, one-man bands, partnerships, et cetera—will not be getting the benefit of which he claims and the small businesses of Australia know that. That is why they are not buying the deceit sought to be perpetrated by Senator Sherry.

We have example after example—a litany of deceit, waste and incompetence. You can go through virtually everyone on the frontbench. Senator Evans, a great success in the immigration portfolio! Live exports, Senator Ludwig, great! Senator Conroy, who could increase the cost of the NBN tenfold! Senator Wong, who got dumped as climate change minister. I will stop with the cabinet at Senator Carr, 'Cash for Clunkers Carr'. This is a smorgasbord of incompetence.