Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Fifteen minutes from the member for Deakin and what have we learned? We learned that he had a past as a psychologist. We learned about his thoughts on the Leader of the Opposition and his living arrangements. We learned that he thinks the member for Gorton is a good bloke—that is one of the few things I agree with him on—and we learned that he does not want the member for Bruce to start doing stunts, which is one of the other things I agreed with him on. What we did not hear is anything which disproves that the mounting evidence shows that the government’s extreme industrial relations changes are driving down the wages and conditions of many Australians. As a member of the ALP’s industrial relations task force I can absolutely say that this evidence is overwhelming. I would remind the member for Deakin and other members opposite of the reason why it was necessary for us to establish this task force and to work so hard on its deliberations. The ALP had to take this initiative to set up the task force in order to do something that the Howard government did not have the courtesy to do: that is, to let the Australian public have their say.

Labor had to step in and stand up for the people of Australia when the government refused to hear them out. This happens on many occasions, but with industrial relations the feelings of betrayal, confusion and outrage with the Howard government were certainly at the highest levels that I have seen in my time in this parliament. The government, let us remember, had absolutely no mandate to push these changes upon the Australian people. Where were these plans during the election campaign? Where were they on the member for Kingston’s brochures during the election campaign? They did not let Australians have a say about them then. What a disgusting abuse of our democratic institutions and, more importantly, what a disgusting abuse of the faith of the Australian people. By not making its plans for extreme industrial relations changes clear during the last election campaign, this government deliberately misled the people of Australia. What an absolute nerve this government has.

Let us not forget that when the government ran its last election campaign it was based on a scare campaign on interest rates. This government gained re-election by scaring the most economically vulnerable members of our community into believing that they would be better off under a coalition government. What a disgraceful nerve it now has in turning around and robbing these very same Australians of their fair pay, their conditions and their rights in the workplace and hurting the workers who rely most upon protection. I believe that an integral part of the role of government is to look after those who have trouble, for any range of reasons, in looking after themselves and their families. This government spits in the face of those Australians who most need government support, those Australians who rely on their government to watch their back. It is the ALP, though, who are seeking to listen to these Australians and to let them have their say.

Let us look further into why we had to set up our task force to listen to Australians. The Senate committee established to investigate the proposed laws last December contained terms of reference that did not allow senators to examine the potential impact of the unfair dismissal laws. And, unlike the Labor task force, the committee sat for only five days and it did not leave Canberra. It spoke to a fraction of those who put in submissions and it failed to properly analyse the impact of these changes on the broader community and those that these changes would most affect.

In contrast to this, the ALP task force set out to give ordinary Australians a say on one of the most extreme industrial relations changes our nation has ever seen. Since January the Labor task force on industrial relations has travelled to cities and towns, listening to the concerns of employees, families, community organisations, unions, church groups and small businesses. We have visited every state and territory and held public hearings in 20 electorates, including the two electorates of the members opposite. We asked Australians how they felt, and Australia replied to us. Their answers were incredibly interesting and the government should stop and pay them some attention.

It is of no surprise that concerns should be so widely shared across the community, especially when one considers the incredibly broad range of people who have been affected by this legislation. This legislation affects millions of Australia’s most vulnerable workers. It affects workers who will be punished by unfair Australian workplace agreements which they have no choice but to sign up to. It will affect millions of pensioners, whose pensions are set in relation to average male earnings, which are now threatened by the establishment of the so-called Fair Pay Commission. It will affect our society as a whole and the fair go that we have afforded each other for so long.

I would now like to draw the attention of the House to several of our task force’s key findings. Firstly, we found that the Fair Pay Commission has been established simply to drive down minimum wages. It has already delayed the first national wage decision, denying the lowest paid a much needed pay rise. And, contrary to the government’s beliefs, the ALP is not alone in calling attacks on minimum wage standards an outrage. The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, commented on Sunday, saying:

I don’t particularly like the new IR laws because I’m frightened they could be used to force down minimum wages.

And Laurie Oakes, one of Australia’s most respected journalists, wrote in this week’s Bulletin:

Cardinal Pell is right to be concerned. These laws will lead to lower pay and worse conditions for a not insignificant number of workers. The government has known it all along. It lied in claiming other-wise.

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