PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you very much Michaelia.
We are with you. We’re backing you. Your energy, your enthusiasm, your enterprise. Your preparedness to put your homes on the line, to borrow the money to buy those rigs. To get out and work. You are building Australia.
You’re providing the energy and the jobs and the enterprise that absolutely underpins our economic future. The jobs of thousands and thousands of Australians depend on you and your hard work and we are committed to you.
Now what the Labor Party has sought to do is to put you out of business. That was the aim of this RSRT. Now we are going to abolish the RSRT.
[Applause]
That is on the agenda this week and I want you to know that we are totally committed to it. Because it is you – believe me – Australia depends on you. Our future depends on enterprising Australians. Australians who get up and have a go, if doesn’t work out, they have another go. Who are backed by their families and their friends and their kids and they’re all depending on your enterprise. Right around the world people recognise that it is the enterprise of small and medium businesses that upon which economic prosperity depends.
So you can talk about big companies, they’ve got big roles to play. There’s no doubt about that. But when you need the drive, the enterprise, the get-up-and-go, the job creation, all of that comes from small businesses. Family businesses just like yours.
Now we are the parties of business. We’re the parties of farmers. We’re the parties of truck drivers. We’re the parties of people that get on and have a go and that’s why we’re here. Liberals and Nationals here today, backing you here and we’ll be backing you in the Parliament this week because we’re going to abolish this tribunal. It’s got nothing to do with safety. It’s got everything to do with undermining your jobs, putting you out of business and advancing the interests of the Transport Workers Union. It was a rotten deal and we’re going to bring it to an end.
[Applause]
We’re with you.
TRUCK DRIVER
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER
That was a shocking deal that Bill Shorten did with the Transport Workers Union to establish this tribunal. Under the pretext of safety as you know, designed to put you out of business and advantage the Transport Workers Union. It was a shocking deal and the consequences of it are being felt by you and your families and we’re going to put an end to that. We’re going to abolish the RSRT and Gordo, I hope all of the senators, the Labor senators included and the Greens senators and the independent senators, hear the point you’ve made. The call you’ve made, for support to bring this tribunal to an end. It was a shocking deal. It was a huge mistake and the Labor Party should own up to that and support us in abolishing it.
Now as far as - you are all committed to safety. There is nobody in Australia more committed to safety that you. Your lives and your families and your futures depend on it. There’ll be $4 million a year saved by the abolition of the RSRT and that will all go in to support the work of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator to ensure that there is real support, practical support for safety. We are all committed to safety on the roads, in the workplace, on construction sites, everywhere. We’re all committed to safety. But what this Tribunal was, as you know, was essentially a pretext. Safety was used as a means of undermining independent family businesses at the expense of a big union and the best answer we’ve got to that is to abolish it this week. Thank you so much for being here. Your courage, your determination to stand up for your family businesses is inspiring. We are inspired by it, we’re energised by it. The National Party, the Liberal Party, as I said, we are the parties of small business, of enterprising Australian men and women like you and we’ll be backing you to the hilt this week in the Parliament. Thank you very much again for being here.
[Ends]