James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy President; I appreciate that reminder. This decision has been welcomed by small business leaders, because they know how difficult it is to compete on the weekend, particularly, with large businesses who have done these cosy deals with union leaders. An example is George Kanellos of the Rose Hotel in Sydney, who says:

As a business owner it means we can hire more staff and have more working on Sundays which works best for customers.

Will Nevile from Wharf ONE in Cairns says:

It will certainly increase our ability to put on more people. In the current situation the consumer gets less amenity, staff get less work, the government gets less tax and businesses get less turnover. I fail to see a winner.

These are the small businesses who will benefit from this decision. It is their workers who will benefit from this decision by getting more hours, and the Senate should seriously consider the extraordinary hypocrisy of the Labor Party in proposing this change when they themselves have done these deals in times past in the union movement.