Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I do remind those on this side of the chamber of the promise that those opposite took to the last election for the Australian people: $387 billion in new taxes. You can only imagine the position that Australians would now be in if those opposite had been able to legislate $387 billion in new taxes. And you know what the irony is? Those opposite stand here and say they are the friends of small and family businesses. The last thing those businesses need is more taxes, which is exactly what those opposite had promised them, and perhaps that's why they didn't vote for them.

We entered COVID-19 from a position of economic strength and record employment. In fact, the employment figures in March 2020 showed that employment in Australia was actually at a record high, in excess of 13 million people. That is why we continue to focus on job creation, the front and centre of our policy.