Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise and speak on this matter of public importance because it gives me the opportunity to say how proud I am to be part of a government that is representing all Australians and is there to give opportunity for all Australians because that's what this side of the House is about. Particularly as we come out of the COVID-19 recession, we want to create more jobs and more opportunity for Australian families and that's something that I care deeply about.

With JobKeeper coming to an end, it is worth reflecting on this remarkable program. Who would have thought that just 12 months ago that we would be here with the opportunity to roll out a vaccine, with the JobKeeper program coming to an end after getting to the point where there are more jobs now than there was at the beginning of the pandemic—absolutely extraordinary! There is plenty of naysayers on that side of the chamber, on the Labor side, who didn't think that JobKeeper would work. They're now calling for it to be extended. But at the time it was this government that backed in Australians with a remarkable package, a record package of support, that was specifically targeted to keep Australians connected to their workplaces, to keep Australians in jobs.

See this speech in context