Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I repeat what I have said, and it's worth reminding people that might be in the chamber or observing on the television that at 11.15 the Senate must move to another term of business: every minute that the government spends asking questions that it knows the answer to, because sitting next to the government are government advisers, delays a vote being put on the opposition's amendments which would allow relief for older Australians today and would allow answers to labour shortage issues for small businesses today. The government is seeking to frustrate and to delay the opportunity for this Senate chamber to vote on amendments that would make life easier for older Australians and for businesses across our country.

We've just had a jobs and skills summit, at the beginning of September. It is now a month later and we still do not see in this Senate chamber any remedy from the government for how to deal with skyrocketing—that is not my word but the Treasurer's word—cost-of-living pressures for older Australians. We still see no remedy from the government that is about the relief that it will offer small and medium-sized businesses across Australia that are suffering severely—not my word but the Treasury's word, which they shared with senators at a committee inquiry last week.

The government is seeking to frustrate what is a very, very reasonable request that the opposition is making on behalf of many older Australians, on behalf of many businesses and on behalf of organisations like the National Farmers Federation, Grain Producers Australia, chambers of commerce and industry in my home state of Western Australia and chambers of commerce and industry in Victoria. The list of organisations in our country that want an answer now about how to better incentivise older Australians to come back into the workforce is endless, and before your very eyes this morning the government is seeking to frustrate. These propositions that are in the form of this amendment have actually been canvassed very, very broadly in the public arena at a Senate committee inquiry and in contributions in this Senate already, and the government is seeking to frustrate this. This is a very, very reasonable—