Mr HOWARTH (Petrie) (16:10): It is great to be in the chamber today to talk about jobs and what the government is doing to support workers, businesses and everyone who lives throughout Australia. I must admit, it is really interesting to sit here and listen to the member for Wakefield and others talk about how debt is up and unemployment is up. This is coming from a man who voted for the job-destroying carbon tax—who wanted to push up everyone's electricity bill and the electricity bill of businesses throughout Australia. This man voted for the mining resources rent tax, and now we have his Labor friends in Queensland shutting down a whole lot of new investment when they came into government. They are shutting down new ship terminals and new residential construction— Mr Champion: Where? Mr HOWARTH: Up in Queensland, mate. They are shutting down other mining leases up there as well, around uranium. This is coming from the man who voted to end the live cattle trade in this country and shut it down overnight, along with every job that went with it. This guy has been in parliament for years and he wants to tell us how bad a job we are doing. I have met a lot of people in my job; in my 43 years of life I have met a lot of people, and those opposite are just totally negative. This man gets thrown out of parliament in question time every single day, or just about. The lot of you—you are all negative. If you cannot bring a positive contribution to this place, then get out. It is all of you: the member for Gorton, the member for Cunningham. That is true, member for Wakefield. Mr Champion: I bet you I come back with a bigger majority! Mr HOWARTH: And I am sure you will. I am sure you will and I congratulate you if you do. Mr Champion interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wakefield is going the right way to get a 94(a). Mr HOWARTH: Let us not get distracted by the opposition, because the people of Petrie and the people of Australia want to hear about the positive contributions of our budget. Of course, jobs are important, and if those members opposite care so much about jobs they will support this budget, because this budget is all about producing jobs. Let us look at what it does for small business. I note the member for Gorton, who was a former small business minister, never even mentioned small business. Mr Champion: I don't think that's quite true, mate. Mr HOWARTH: That is true, mate. The instant tax write-off—that is fantastic for jobs. It really is fantastic for jobs. It will help many small businesses in the Petrie electorate. There is also a company tax cut for those businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million. That will also support jobs. Youth unemployment is particularly high throughout the country, and it is fairly high in the electorate of Petrie. One of the big incentives we have around youth unemployment and getting youth back to work is around work experience. I would be interested to know what members opposite are going to do with the issue around work experience, because often people who have not been employed for six months— Mr Champion interjecting— Mr HOWARTH: If you would like to listen up a minute: one of the things that employers say is 'What sort of experience have you got?' It is very difficult to get a job if you have not had some work experience or practical experience in the real world. One of the measures in this budget enables those people who are on welfare to continue to be supported and be able to get up to four weeks training in a real business—to understand customer service and productivity in the workplace. Those businesses that take on those men and women for work experience will spend a lot of time, obviously, training them, and it will be of benefit to the unemployed. They will be able to say, 'Look, I have gone and done some work experience at this place and this place,' when they go for their next interview. That is looked upon favourably. In the budget there is a great package—a $5.5 billion package for small business that will help jobs growth in this country. There are also incentives for youth unemployment and for getting people back to work. There are also incentives for those young people who are particularly disengaged, or who may have left school early, to go back and do some further study—to finish year 12 or perhaps do a certificate III. There are big incentives for their workplace providers to get them trained as well. Finally, I would just say that, when it comes to jobs, the Liberal-National party have a strong record. We believe in supporting small business. We believe in lower taxes. We believe in reward for effort. This is important. What stands in the way of that is the Labor Party. They want to come back into office and to run this country. But what do they plan to do? They plan to tax people with their super. They plan to be in a coalition with the Greens, who want to destroy what is left of the mining industry in this country. They are all members and the party of unions, and they want to make sure that casual workers have sick pay and holiday pay when they already have a 20 per cent loading. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Hon. BC Scott ): Order! The time allocated for this debate has expired. The discussion has concluded.