Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

I am very surprised that the Liberal Party, who once thought they were the champions of small business and claim to be the champions of small business, would be happy for small businesses not to work on stimulus projects. Mr President, I can inform Senator Brandis and all senators that we consulted across industry, across the union movement and with all the states and the territories and there were discussions at COAG. In the end it was about jobs and it was about small business because we care about small business. Every job we can save in small business has a multiplier effect. Unemployment is such a terrible phenomenon. The Liberal Party do not care about it and they do not understand that unemployment does not just affect the person who loses their job; it affects their family, it affects their friends, it leads to crime and it leads to social dislocation. That is what unemployment is about. The Liberal Party could not care less. The shadow Treasurer has said, ‘It is not our top priority’— (Time expired)