Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

Ninety-seven is the number of times the Labor government, when in opposition, committed to reducing Australians power prices by $275 a year. This is a failed promise from the Labor Party. Not only is this causing enormous pain for Australian families, on a day when we are expecting to see another lift in interest rates it is causing enormous pain for small businesses, at a time when our small businesses—our retailers, those working in the hospitality sector and our manufacturers—need every bit of a leg up. The pain for our manufacturers with these rocketing electricity prices is absolutely appalling. This is going to drive manufacturers out of business. On top of that, what a great result was the Jobs and Skills Summit—when I say 'great', I am being sanctimonious—with the decision of industry-wide bargaining, which is taking us back to the Dark Ages. It was effectively abolished by the Keating government, and it is going to cause industrial chaos in every small business around the country if the Labor Party gets its way. This is appalling. This would never have been supported by Bob Hawke, by Paul Keating, by Kevin Rudd or by Julia Gillard, but this left-wing Prime Minister is determined to destroy small businesses around this country.