Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

If Tasmanian Liberal senators and members were to take time out of their busy schedules or bother to come over to the northwest coast of Tasmania and consult small businesses about penalty rates then they would know what I do: that the cuts to penalty rates would not be enough for them to open on a Sunday. It would not be enough for them to put on more staff. However, for those businesses that do pay penalty rates, the workers are going out into the community and spending every cent at their local stores.

Cutting penalty rates does not help rural and regional communities; it does not support small businesses. This is their bread and butter. You are cutting the money they spend on their power, their insurance or clothes for their children. If the Liberal government want to spark jobs growth, they would be better off using COAG for something that is productive and axe payroll tax, which is a tax on jobs and a direct barrier to business growth—especially in Tasmania.