Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I note Senator Bilyk is saying, 'Why is it one rule for some and another for others?' I can't help but think: why is it that the Labor Party pick on some but not others? Why is it, of course, that they're after businesses or after religious organisations but overlook the millions of dollars that trade unions received? Why is it that they're so selective in who it is that they hate and who it is that they wish to vilify?

The simple facts are that Australian businesses were having their doors slammed shut last year, right across the country—in every state and territory—as lockdowns and shutdowns occurred. JobKeeper was born with the simplest of eligibility criteria: to seek to make it easy to save those jobs. It worked: it saved 700,000 jobs. We're not going to vilify the businesses that were legitimately able to claim it, but I do note the hypocrisy of those who seem to overlook the trade unions that were happy to take the cash.