Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is true, says the member for Bruce. Let us look at that task force. Before I came into parliament I did a lot of work as a psychologist. Those who know anything about research and sampling would know that you need to make sure that your sample and the foundation for your research is sound. The task force is based on 21 hearings and 147 statements. Eight of those statements were from employers. The rest were from unionists, academics and employees. Eight came from the business community that Labor says is worried about the Work Choices legislation. We are told that employers will cut wages to compete against businesses up the road.

Let me tell you what will happen if an employer followed the prescription of those opposite: they would not be able to hire good workers. We have a skills shortage at the moment. Why would someone want to be in a race to the bottom when they need people to work because their business is growing and when there is prosperity with high consumer confidence? Why would you do something which would ensure that your employees left you to go up the road to better pay?

The member for Gorton referred to teachers a little while ago. I am glad that the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education is here with us, because he has reminded me of this notion of a race to the bottom. We should be promoting skills and good workers. The state governments promote their best teachers out of teaching and into the bureaucracy and some sort of administration role. What are we left with because we do not reward talent and skills and we do not differentiate? We are left with the best and the worst on the same conditions and on the same rates of pay.

No wonder a lot of teachers say when they get to a certain level: ‘I’m doing a great job here. I’m putting in a lot of effort during the day, after hours and on holidays and all I get is the same amount of money as the next bloke.’ There is no differentiation. Whether they be in the teaching profession, in the small business down the road or in the mineral sector wherever it may be, people will realise in this time of a skills shortage that all they need to do is leave that place that is not doing the right thing and move elsewhere.

There are a lot of claims in this document Work Choices: a race to the bottom. I will not have time to go through it, but I would welcome the opportunity when we return in August to go through every aspect of this task force report and discredit it. The report claims that many small business owners do not understand Work Choices, that it is prescriptive, complex and confusing. Work Choices is a simple matter for small businesses. Work Choices exempted small and medium sized businesses from unfair dismissal laws when, previously, small business entrepreneurs faced a prospect of financial damage or even failure due to unjustified unfair dismissal cases. That is what the 1.2 million small businesses in Australia with 20 or fewer employees faced, yet the member for Gorton has written his report based on statements from eight employers. It is an absolute joke.

There are a lot of things in this report. I cannot go through all the claims about women, migrants, volunteers, families and the no disadvantage test. Every single one of them will no doubt be torn apart in due course. In the one minute that I have left, I will go to what the ALP and the Australian public will face in the future. Unions New South Wales has demanded that the Leader of the Opposition show some backbone and strength and put out a policy position. In a knee-jerk reaction, he did that and ripped up AWAs as a consequence. What will the unions ask for next? We already know that Greg Combet has demanded that compulsory collective bargaining be a part of Labor policy. This will mean dealing with unions in every workplace negotiation, whether or not they have employees that are unionised. I wonder whether the member for Gorton told that to the small businesses that he talked to. Did he tell them that one of the things he will be pushing for is collective agreements and that Bill Shorten is demanding that non-union workers be slugged with compulsory union fees? (Time expired)

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