Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The mainland states—I knew someone would bite. I thought it would be the other side over there, not you, Senator Bilyk.

I put my hands out to other side of the chamber and ask how we can do this together. We cannot sit back and run this line that the shareholders must be looked after. If we have all these kids coming out of school, what are they going to do? Where the hell are they going to work? This is not rocket science.

I would love nothing more than my colleagues from the Liberals and Nationals on the other side to say, 'Gee, Sterle, how can we do this together? You know what? We've got kids and grandkids, and we're worried about their future. We want to give them an opportunity too.' It's time we pushed back to the blue carpet part of this building and said, 'Hang on, you've got a responsibility to create jobs for kids.'

In closing, I have just been handed this piece of paper. There's been a resignation today, all of a sudden, by the boss of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, Mr Nigel Hadgkiss. He's had to resign after admitting to breaking the law and, I'm very happy to say, not only has he broken the law; he's been flicked out over what he's been doing to construction workers around this nation. Minister Cash, you've done the first decent thing that I've heard from you all week and accepted the resignation— (Time expired)