Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my melancholy duty to inform the House that the Gillard government has broken another promise. I am not talking about the Prime Minister's claim, 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' It is the Assistant Treasurer's broken promise that he would not 'make life difficult for self-employed working people'. Has he failed. No slick-willy weasel words will forgive the Assistant Treasurer for breaking his promise. Not only has he unleashed organs of the Commonwealth to attack independent contractors and self-employed people—tasking the Taxation office, tasking the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner and tasking Fair Work Australia in a triple-cored push to stalk and terrorise independent contractors—but it gets worse. In this budget there is another measure of additional red tape and reporting requirements for those who dare to engage independent contractors. What we have learned is that, when the government talks about people contributing to the workforce, the only workers it understands are those who are employees—not an employer, not a self-employed person, not someone using their own wit and talent to gain wealth and opportunity in this country. Those people deserve support, not the nonsense and intimidation and the ridicule hatched up in secret meetings with unions by this government that is undermining the enterprising nature of Australians.

One other thing: the government has been stung by its deregulation failures—one out for every 220 new regulations in. What has the Minister for Small Business done? He has tried to challenge the numbers. I say to Senator Sherry: check ComLaw for your facts; you stand condemned. (Time expired)