Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday we heard the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, give voice to something that I think everyone in this place knows—that this government’s industrial relations laws, Work Choices, are politically unpopular. Labor members certainly know that. I, along with other members of Labor’s Industrial Relations Taskforce, chaired by my colleague the member for Gorton, have heard from people in more than 20 electorates, in every state and territory. In my own electorate I have heard of many cases, such as that of Reinaldo Martinez, Errol Ogle, Reynaldo Cortez, the employees of Esselte and, more recently, the employees of Lipa Pharmaceuticals. They have all visited my office to complain about this government’s harsh industrial relations laws, what they have done to them and, moreover, what they have done to their families. Members of the government, if they are halfway honest, would have to admit that they have heard the same things in their own electorates.

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