Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his assertion yesterday that Esselte workers would be $27 a week better off under the now withdrawn Esselte AWA. Isn’t it the case that David Rojas, an Esselte worker for 15 years, has calculated that the AWA offered to him would cut his personal take-home pay by $50 a week—10 per cent of his weekly wage? Didn’t the Prime Minister’s assertion rely on a seven-paragraph media statement prepared at the government’s request by Esselte which does not refer to the alleged $27 a week? Haven’t both the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Prime Minister refused media requests to release their $27-a-week calculation? How does the Prime Minister explain himself to David Rojas and why did he mislead the Australian people yesterday?

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