Mr NEVILLE —My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. Minister, the government has put in place several job creation initiatives that have won widespread support from mainstream Australia in general and the business community in particular. What direct action has been taken to prevent the creation of jobs that would flow from these initiatives, particularly in the small business area?

Mr REITH (Workplace Relations and Small Business) —I thank the member for Hinkler for his question. In the last election the government advanced, as one of our policy proposals, that we should provide a fairer deal for small business in respect of unfair dismissals and we are entitled, under the Workplace Relations Act, to move to implement a regulation to achieve that objective. It was also part of our policy that we would act quickly—that this was an issue which required a determined, resolute government to get on and start to fix some of these fundamental problems. For that reason, prior to Christmas, under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Act—which was, of course, supported in the Senate, supported by the member for Dickson, a Labor Party frontbencher—we were entitled to provide that exemption and so a regulation was enacted, brought into being.

When the Labor Party vote down that regulation in the Senate, they will not be just voting down a proposal; they will be taking the black letter law of the country today which provides a benefit to small business—which is a law in operation today to encourage small business to give people a job—they will be taking an existing federal law, and throwing it out for the benefit of the trade union hacks that they respond to and which are so heavily represented by those on the other side.

This is a sensible proposal in conformity with international conventions, provided for by the Workplace Relations Act and which we know would genuinely provide real opportunities for people to get jobs with small business. The consequence of this was very neatly summarised by Helen Hughes in an article recently. In effect, she said this policy approach of Labor was saying to small business, `If you have a choice between giving a person a job or investing in new equipment, go for the new equipment every time'—because the policy position advocated by the trade union movement, and just repeated here by their lap-dogs on the front bench of the Labor Party, is against the interests of small business.

The fact is they do not really have their own policy; they have got the trade union policy. Why don't they have their own policy? Because they are split amongst themselves about the future direction of workplace relations policy. The Leader of the Opposition says, `Let's have a policy review,' but of course he said before Christmas that by not one jot or tittle would they change Labor's approach to workplace relations.

We are now seeing the splits within the Labor Party splinter right across the factions. We had, for example, a very entertaining piece written just a few days ago on 12 February in the Daily Telegraph by the member for Werriwa, which had a shot at one of his left-wing colleagues, the member for Grayndler. He said this about one of his policy proposals:

Talk about a confused politician. The establishment of a big government bank would destroy the prospects of successful community banking in regional Australia.

So they are fighting over that policy. Laurie Brereton, the member for Kingsford-Smith, is attacking the former foreign affairs minister—another split—and we have also got Senator George Campbell running a proposal for shorter working hours and that has been attacked by the member for Melbourne. Talk about a confused politician: they are a confused opposition, a split opposition, devoid of any leadership.