Michael Ferguson (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise this evening to bring to your attention and to the attention of the House a dishonest campaign which continues in my electorate of Bass in northern Tasmania, the best electorate in Australia. Yesterday a very unusual advertisement with the title ‘Work Choices’ appeared in Launceston’s daily newspaper, the Examiner. In short, it was a mocked-up Australian workplace agreement with my name on it as a member of the House of Representatives employed by the so-called company ‘Electors of Bass Pty Ltd’.

Interestingly, the premise of the text suggested that I would begin an AWA from that day concluding on the date of the next federal election. It read:

... as of Monday the 27th March 2006, the new industrial relations laws that you voted for come into place. As such we, as your constituents, offer you the following individual contracts—

sic—

so that you can lead the way in embracing these new laws that allows employers to strip away workers’ pay and conditions.

It then goes on to list an offer for me, including salary, sick leave, and hours worked. Finally, the ad claimed to make out a list of work related entitlements which all federal politicians receive. The implication was that I would have these taken away from me from the said date.

There are many things I could say about this political advertisement. For a start, even though the ad is intended to be a sarcastic document, it contains many errors. I do not earn anywhere near the stated hourly rate even if I did only work eight hours per day, which I exceed by double incidentally. I am unable to tell you who wrote the ad, who paid for it or who placed it. Interestingly, no-one had seen fit to authorise it or put their name to it at all. But I tell you this: it is just another example of the hysterical, misleading and malicious campaign which is being waged all around Australia by powerful, wealthy unions with vested political interests.

I am sorry to disappoint those who have chosen to become my enemy in my work on behalf of the people of Bass. I will not be reacting to their silly and dishonest tactics. In giving this speech tonight, one thing I do not seek to achieve is a personal defence. This is not about me. The unions’ smear tactics are very disappointing because of the deceit and half-truths that people are being forced to endure.

I feel sad and disappointed at the alarm that has been caused among ordinary, everyday people. I am angry that good, hard-working people in my community are being lied to by unions and ALP politicians who care only about their own existence and their manipulation of public feeling. If I were hearing only this one side of the debate, I too would be worried and anxious. If I were an age pensioner being told that my pension would fall over time, I would be upset. If I were a shift worker who relies on penalty rates for overtime being told that I was about to lose those penalty rates, I would be concerned. If I were a young person at a school being told that I would be bullied into signing away decent working conditions when I entered the workforce, I would be fearful. If I were a trustworthy and hard-working employee in a Launceston bakery being told that I should expect to be sacked for no reason, I too would be very concerned about the direction of this government. The fact is that none of the scenarios that I have described are valid, but we have heard them all from the unions and the ALP.

I have spoken in this place before about the Work Choices bill, which has now become law, and I have talked about the need for reform, the need for more flexibility in the workplace, the need to make it easier for employers to create more jobs, and, importantly, the need for proper minimum conditions in order to protect Australians from being exploited. No-one in any union and no-one in any opposition party has challenged the contents of that speech. No-one has attacked me in the media for saying things that are not true, as could have been expected if I had been less than honest. That speech was given nearly five months ago, with no protest as to my points of view or the good reasons underlying the reforms.

I think that every member of this parliament ought to answer this basic question and then live by their answer: do or do not the Australian people deserve enough respect to be told the truth—the whole truth—about this legislation? I refer to yesterday’s newspaper advertisement and the campaign in general when I say, ‘Judge me on my record and my commitment to the electorate and to the people of Bass.’ Because, without question, and like most of my parliamentary colleagues from all parties, I work long and irregular hours to do the job to the best of my ability. Everywhere that I go, people observe that, in my short time as the member for Bass, I have achieved more in less than a couple of years than the previous member did in six years.

The advertisement says that my AWA will finish at the 2007 federal election. I can only say to that that I absolutely agree. You see, my contract is with the people of Bass and it will end at that time. With good faith, I will ask the people of Bass to renew my contract because I am their hard-working, honest representative whose daily mission is to make life better for people and their families. I am proud about that. Unlike some politicians, I do not regard my position as one that I can or should take for granted; neither do I think that people can, just by clever campaigning and with the effective use of words, win elections forever. You have to work hard, you have to take decisions in good conscience and you have to remain accountable to your community.

This is, of course, not about me, even though the unions are making every effort to make it a very personal smear campaign. This is, in fact, about the collective hysteria that the union movement in this country is using to scare people into believing things that are not true. I could read out a long list of the many statements which have been made about how the sky will fall and how the world will come to an end, but time does not permit me. But I will pick out a couple: there will be more divorce, children will not be able to go on holidays, this issue is bigger than two world wars, living standards will fall and the age pension will decrease. All these assertions are not only wrong, misleading and juvenile but in many cases they are downright offensive. How dare the union movement and the ALP go about scaring people in this way.

The truth is that Work Choices will actually move Australia toward one simple national system of workplace relations. It will mean more job opportunities and greater workplace flexibility. As a matter of fact, Work Choices will be of particular benefit to people living in regional areas like those in my federal electorate of Bass. The unions are targeting and attacking people like me in marginal seats simply because we are marginal seat holders. I say as well that I have a good idea of who is leading the campaign locally and I know them to be quite a dishonest person. I also know that, although they are a paid employee of the unions, they are a former ALP staff member, but I do not propose to name them today. That is not my way. It is not personal; it should be about the issue.

Let me say this: let the future prove these people wrong. My electors are not stupid, and they consistently say that they do not appreciate dishonest scare campaigns as a means of manipulating them at the ballot box. I look forward to the day when the ardent critics of this legislation will have to acknowledge that they were wrong. Australians will now be able to watch the economy grow even further as it benefits from this necessary economic reform—especially regions such as northern Tasmania. When we see the proof of the obvious benefits to the people of Australia, I will be calling these doomsayers to account. I will ask them to explain why they opposed economic growth which results in better living conditions for everyday Australians. I will ask them why they felt the need to frighten Australian families. On behalf of the people of Bass, if given that opportunity, I will be demanding a retraction of their lies and an unconditional apology.

In closing, I simply issue the following challenge. If the union-ALP political partnership—and that is what it is—wants to focus at the next election in 2007 on moral character, honesty, job security and employment growth, I say: bring it on. I am proud of what the Howard government has been able to achieve for Australia, and I am very proud to have been a part of it. I look forward to its response.

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