Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

However, it's pretty clear the Labor Party—you try and expose Mr Albanese for misleading Australians, for blatantly saying things prior to the election that he had absolutely no intention of following through on, and guess what? They are going to make sure we don't get to even talk about that in the Senate. That is the type of government you currently have in place. It is a government that, prior to the election, talked big about transparency and talked big about promises. I tell you, though, the minute they get into power and the minute they have the numbers, they are duplicitous. That is what they are. They are deceitful and they work against Australians every single step of the way.

That includes Western Australians. You only have to see the front page of the West Australian on Monday 5 February: 'Rarely open state. WA fears being left behind in disconnect shake-up'. Then you only have to read the editorial by the editor of the West Australian, Anthony De Ceglie. What does he say on behalf of Western Australians to Mr Albanese, the members of the Labor government and the Labor members in Western Australia, who are not standing up for Western Australians, who are rolling over and having their little tummies tickled like little puppy dogs smiling at their master? He writes:

Yet again, Western Australia has been forced to remind the rest of the country of its importance to the nation's economy as proposed "right to disconnect" laws threaten to slash businesses' operating hours in half.

That is the contempt that the Prime Minister of this country has for the great state of Western Australia.

I say to the Prime Minister: you might actually want to look at your bottom line. You might actually want to look at what Western Australia and Western Australians, through sheer hard work and effort, contribute to the economy of this country. Instead of saying that you get us, why don't you, for once, put in place legislation that doesn't attack us and that does not attack businesses across Australia but allows us to do what we do best, not just in WA but in this country. All businesses want to do is prosper, grow and create more jobs for Australians, and you are killing them.