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

Just as Tony Blair famously said in 1997, fairness in the workplace starts with the chance of a job. I can truly say that real choice in the workplace started in 1996, when the workplace relations legislation of the government was introduced. That legislation for the first time allowed for the operation of Australian workplace agreements. It preserved the right of choice of men and women in this country to join or not to join a union and it preserved the legitimate role of the trade union movement in negotiating on behalf of workers where that was the desire of the workers, but it broke the monopoly that the union movement had previously held on the bargaining process. That change was long overdue.

As a result, there have been enormous benefits for the Australian economy. We have had 1.9 million new jobs created in the last 10 years. We have seen industrial disputes fall to such a situation where they are at a record low. We have seen real wages increase by 16.4 per cent over the last 13 years, compared with a paltry increase or no increase at all under the former government. So the choice of the last 10 years has been manifestly beneficial to the Australian community.

As a result of Work Choices, passed into law at the end of last year and coming into operation on 27 March this year, we have seen another 175,000 jobs created. I know the opposition hates that fact. It has all been the wrong sort of news. There were meant to be ashes in our mouths as a result of the introduction of Work Choices but instead of that, I am sorry to say, there are 175,000 new jobs. We have seen in the last quarter the lowest level of industrial disputes on record in this country. This is a vindication of the commitment this government has made to the principle of choice—a vindication of choice. The Australian people have always responded when they have been given the incentive of choice.

Sadly, if the Australian Labor Party returned to the government benches, they would take away that choice. The Leader of the Opposition says: ‘If I become Prime Minister, I will get rid of AWAs and I will introduce collective bargaining. I will impose collective bargaining on a workplace if a bare majority of people in that workplace vote in favour of it.’ I think that is what the Leader of the Opposition said. If you can sort of pick your way through the ALP website and decipher the doorstop, you will find that basically that is what the Leader of the Opposition said.

But that is not good enough for Mr Combet. Mr Combet said that even if there is just one person in an enterprise who is a union member then the union has to have a seat at the table, irrespective of the wishes of that individual worker—the majority does not count them. So you have this ridiculous situation where both the Leader of the Opposition and the ACTU secretary would roll back the choice that was conferred in 1996 and reinforced in 2005.

Let us not kid ourselves. As time goes by the Leader of the Opposition, despite what he might say over the next few days, will end up capitulating to the even more extreme version.

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