House debates

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Questions without Notice

Mining

2:43 pm

Photo of Bill ShortenBill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

There is another $5K for small business there—every small business. If you buy that $33,000 ute and the MRRT gets passed, there is $1,275 back in your pocket, helping small business.

I am asked: what are the challenges to small business? Two challenges come to mind as I look across at the opposition. One of the challenges to small business is the opposition. Never in the history of the Australian Federation would I have imagined a situation where, while the mining companies are willing to pay the tax, there is only one group in Australia which wants to give $11 billion back to the miners, and that is those opposite. This crowd opposite would watch the film Robin Hood and back the Sheriff of Nottingham. But there is another threat.

Opposition members interjecting

I see that arrow struck home! There is another threat to small business. It is the threat of unpredictable, disproportionate, precipitate, rogue industrial action. That is always a threat to small business—

Honourable members interjecting

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