Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

As I've repeatedly said, we think that what's important is that we deliver on a commitment that we gave to the Australian people, that the Australian people voted for, that penalty rates should be protected in awards.

I've actually been provided with those figures that I was talking about regarding small businesses becoming insolvent. According to ASIC data, under this government insolvencies as a proportion of all companies have been the lowest on record, averaging 0.29 per cent. That's half the rate recorded under the Howard government, which was 0.5 per cent, and lower than the Abbot-Turnbull-Morrison government's, which was 0.32 per cent. Average monthly new company registrations are higher under this government than under any government on record, at 25,000 per month. So, for all the predictions that our workplace relations laws would mean the end of the world for small businesses, that has not been the case. I predict it will not be the case when this bill is passed either.