Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We did try to resolve that by implementing the ABCC. Due to the intransigence of those on the other side, that was not possible and the government had to recall parliament. The parliament is now scheduled to go to a double dissolution election, subject to the Prime Minister's discretion. So we have dealt with that substantive issue; and we have dealt with another substantive issue in which tens of thousands of jobs within the trucking industry—independent contractors—were under threat by a power grab from the union movement initiated by the Labor Party. So, when challenged about what substantive issues this session of parliament was dealing with, those are two significant ones. They may not be important to some on the other side, but they are desperately important to many people in two vital industries—the construction industry, which is worth billions of dollars to this country, and the trucking industry, which is also worth billions of dollars to this country and at least 50,000 potential jobs. These are the sorts of things senators on the other side conveniently ignore when they ask us what important initiatives we are discussing. That is why we should not be suspending standing orders just to indulge their hubris. We are dealing with substantive— (Time expired)