For too long Australian promotions have concentrated on the eastern seaboard. The Australian outback is beautiful, and I will be doing my best to ensure that we promote the western side of the Great Divide to tourists and overseas visitors as well as the eastern seaboard. Small businesses are doing it tough for a variety of reasons, but our unfair dismissal laws are adding to the problem. Unfair dismissal legislation as it presently stands is a disincentive to increasing small business employment, and I would like to work with the government to help our small business operators achieve their full potential. There is a place for unions in Australia to protect the workers' rights.
Enterprise bargaining has the potential to take away hard fought rights of workers.
We do not support compulsory unionism, as it is an infringement of freedom of choice and freedom of association and encourages complacency on the part of the unions. We do not approve of the practice of channelling money from membership fees to political parties without the authorisation of the member. Australians have a long and for the most part successful relationship with firearms, and I do not believe that imposing national gun laws was the correct action to deal with an increasingly violent, divided and amoral society. We believe that decent, law-abiding citizens should have reasonable access to firearms for legitimate reasons. I have always greatly admired Gandhi, and I believe his thoughts to conclude my maiden speech are fitting.