John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The answer to the question is no. I also point out to the Chief Opposition Whip that it is of course consistent with the tactics being used by the opposition in this matter to describe their employment conditions as being ‘2c an hour’. The reality is that 38 of the new staff employed at Mount Druitt were previously unemployed. While they were on the unemployment benefit, they received $205.30 a week. Under the AWA, these employees would receive $543.40 a week. So what I would call these AWAs are contracts of employment that provide remuneration increases of $338 a week for each of those employees.

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