Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor government's industrial relations agenda is killing small business. At every turn of government policy, the Labor Party are hitting small business with blow after blow, just to appease their union campaign financiers. A family-run local community pharmacy in Western Sydney wrote to me recently regarding the impact that the government's policy would have on them. They told me that they would likely have to cut staff from their mostly female workforce; across the economy, we would see up to 20,000 job losses in a sector that mostly employs women; and a reduction in opening hours means that local communities, especially busy working families, have less access to pharmaceutical services, longer wait times and fewer free services. There are many other levers for the government to pull to make medicines cheaper that don't involve passing the cost on to community pharmacies. Instead, they pulled the lever that hurts small business and only stands to benefit the big-box pharmacy chains by pushing community pharmacies out of business.

The government's crusade on small business doesn't stop there. The Same Job, Same Pay policy is nothing more than an attack on employers of independent contractors disguised under the politically convenient banner of 'workers' rights'. Many people, including many women, choose to be contractors because of the flexibility that it offers them and their families. They play a significant role in our economy, filling very specific gaps in the market where it doesn't make sense for a company to employ someone permanently. The government's policy will take away these contractor rights and distort the labour market. The government must stop infringing on the liberties of employers and employees.