Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Henderson for her question. I totally reject your description of this legislation as 'extreme'. The Labor Party went to the last election saying we were going to lift the wages of Australians and, in particular, low-paid Australians—and that's what this legislation does.

If I were a small business operating a cafe or, for that matter, a hotel in the Mornington Peninsula, I would be delighted with this legislation because I would know that for the first time in 10 years low-paid workers will have an opportunity to lift their wages. We know from what the former Leader of the Government in the Senate said that low wages were a design feature of the Liberal Party's policy. A design feature of the Labor Party's policy is lifting the wages—