Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

On the second issue, I will tell you what small business are fearful of. They are fearful of the union bosses walking back in on the dark day that the Labor Party is elected to federal government; that is what they are worried about. When I went to a small business in Queanbeyan in Eden-Monaro yesterday, without any prompting from me, a worker pointed out that he was fearful of the unions walking back into the workplace and interfering in negotiations between employers and employees at the end of the collective agreement.

In relation to the second issue that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition raises on families, I will make this point: we see today more women in the Australian workplace than at any time in Australia’s history. We see today a narrowing of the wages gap under the coalition, when the wages gap between men and women grew under the Labor Party. We also see today that it has been the coalition government that introduced the family tax benefit, which provides choice for families. It is the coalition that has doubled the number of childcare places. It is the coalition government that has taken the cap off childcare places. It is the coalition government—

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