House debates

Wednesday, 9 December 2020

Questions without Notice

Employment

2:08 pm

Photo of Scott MorrisonScott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Again, what the Labor Party is saying is not true. Eighty per cent of the jobs that have been lost or have had hours reduced to zero have come back. They are the jobs of working Australians that were lost, and 700,000 jobs would have been lost were it not for the proactive work of the plans that this government put in place to see Australians through. We want to see that continue. We want to see another 200,000 jobs come back just to get us back to where we started. We want to see hundreds of thousands more of those jobs come back on top of that. You don't get there unless you deal with the things that act as a barrier to Australians coming back into work.

I believe Australians are better off in jobs. The Labor Party wants to stand in the way of Australians getting jobs. If you're for workers, you should be for jobs. This government is for jobs. Before the pandemic, 1.5 million Australians were able to find their way back into work through their efforts and as a result of the supportive policies for our economy that saw that occur. We are doing the same thing now as we come through the worst recession that this country has seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The conditions that Australians, and the businesses that employ eight out of 10 Australians, are facing now are unknown to the Labor Party. They think that somehow these jobs will create themselves. The Labor Party does not know how to get Australia out of this great challenge. But I can assure Australians that we understand. It is about empowering Australians through their skills development. It is about empowering Australian businesses and workers through lower taxes. It's about empowering Australians to get more hours so they can earn more. We want to see Australians earn more, and you can only earn more if you're in a job. The Labor Party may not understand that if the business doesn't exist then no-one has a job. They might not understand that, but our championing of an economy that is driven by those who create jobs, we know, is the way to get Australians into jobs. These changes are modest, I admit. These changes are pragmatic. These changes are practical. Those opposite would like to return to conflict politics. What we seek to do is see workers and their employers work together under— (Time expired)

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