Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to close the debate on the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021. I would like to say thank you to those crossbenchers who constructively engaged with the government in order to come to a resolution today—a resolution that will not only provide greater certainty for those in casual employment and offer them a pathway to permanent employment but also provide greater certainty to all those small businesses across Australia. And I say to the Labor Party and the Greens: shame on you!

In 2020 Australia and the world faced a challenge like no other. COVID-19 caused a health crisis that triggered an economic crisis. It is a fact that, at the height of the pandemic, 1.3 million people lost their job or were stood down to zero hours. The Morrison government made it clear from day one that we were committed to backing the Australian people—

Senator Pratt interjecting—