Stuart Henry (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It has come to my attention that the Leader of the Opposition, in the company of Senator Sterle, made a lightning visit to my electorate of Hasluck a couple of weeks ago for a tea party. He regaled a group of nearly 25 local residents in High Wycombe with some of the most fanciful stories any of them had probably ever heard. Topics listed for discussion included the employment prospects of kids, working conditions, plus a secret plan for a nuclear plant in Hasluck.

He told the local folk that the Howard government has a secret plan to put a nuclear power plant at or near the Perth airport in Hasluck. It is outrageous to think that the Leader of the Opposition can make up such unbelievable stories, indulging in blatant scaremongering, when he knows that there is no plan to put a nuclear power plant at the Perth airport. He referenced a 1997 report to cabinet, which referred to potential sites for a research reactor that has since been co-located at the Lucas Heights facility outside of Sydney.

He then went on to say how disadvantaged they and their kids would be under Work Choices and the government’s AWAs. The Leader of the Opposition refused to do the hard work to develop policies that would keep Australia growing, lock in prosperity and ensure jobs and wages continued to grow. Instead, Labor continue to take the lazy way out by using distortions, stunts and scaremongering in place of hard work.

That brings me to the Leader of the Opposition’s plans for workplace relations—a back to the future scenario. Under Labor, there will be no AWAs and no worker will be worse off. Let us consider Mr Beazley’s record. As Minister for Employment, Education and Training from 1991-93, unemployment peaked at 10.9 per cent in December 1992. Teenage unemployment was 34.5 per cent—an absolute disgrace. His performance as minister in this area was absolutely appalling. Between 1991-93, the number of people in apprenticeships in traditional trades fell from 151,000 to 122,600—a decline of 23 per cent. Can we trust Mr Beazley to ensure employment and apprenticeships for our kids? Surely his record speaks for itself. Under the Howard government there are now 391,200 young people in apprenticeships. The truth is that the Labor Party record on youth unemployment and vocational education and training is a damning indictment of their commitment to the future of young people in this country. Under this government, the real wages of Australian workers have increased by 16.8 per cent compared to only 1.2 per cent in 13 years under the Labor government and when Beazley was minister for employment.

In 1995-1996, the Labor government spent just $984 million on skills training in Australia. This financial year, the Howard government has spent over $2.5 billion dollars on training. Included in this is the funding for the Australian technical colleges, which will provide skills training and vocational and technical education to young people. It is a shame that Mr Beazley did not support the City of Rockingham’s bid for an ATC. Although, thankfully, Phil Edman, the Liberal candidate for Mr Beazley’s seat of Brand, has lobbied hard to secure a satellite campus status for Rockingham with the Perth South ATC.

I see that Mr Beazley’s Labor colleague in Western Australia, Premier Alan Carpenter, wants to prevent businesses who use AWAs from being awarded state government contracts. Carpenter wants to risk the prosperity of our state by discriminating in the most unjust way against the same employers who are fuelling our booming WA economy. Lets look at AWAs in WA in three key industry sectors: in accommodation, cafes and restaurants, 49.4 per cent are on AWAs; in retail, 23.6 per cent; and in mining, 43.1 per cent. I wonder how all those mining industry personnel who live around High Wycombe feel about his proposal to knock off AWAs.

The Howard government is working to secure the future prosperity of not just young people but all Australians. I am proud to be a part of the government, and I am confident people will be much better off under Work Choices and AWAs. Mr Beazley indicated that industrial relations was a ‘blood fight’. He would contest out of principle and says that the Labor Party should be standing beside our trade union colleagues, as opposed to the working men and women of Australia.

See this speech in context