Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

It was a pity that the government cut and ran from question time today because we had a series of questions for the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Let me say this in relation to the one question he answered: one question, one gaffe. The case of this government since parliament convened this year has been that Work Choices creates jobs. The Prime Minister has said it, the Treasurer has said it and the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations sitting at the table has said it. Now the minister, confronted with the fact that employment growth was stronger before Work Choices than it has been afterwards, has made a fatal concession in answer to a question. He conceded that the government does not create jobs, that its laws do not create jobs, but that it is businesses and a growing economy that create jobs. And so we should never again hear in this House from the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the minister or any members of the Howard government backbench this nonsense that Work Choices is about employment growth.

I am going to speak about these matters a little bit more later, but I want to start by saying that this matter of public importance debate today is truly one for Australian working families. We know that it is important for Australian working families because, even if they have not been directly affected, Australians are bighearted enough to be concerned about what happens to their neighbours and to their friends. Parliament is often criticised for being an ivory tower and certainly some of the behaviour we see on display from the government shows how distant from ordinary life they really are. But today, in what can be criticised as being an ivory tower, we are talking about the same thing that Australians are talking about in their workplaces and in their homes.

When they have those discussions, I think I know what they are saying to each other. They are saying to each other that they think the Prime Minister and his government have changed. They are saying to each other that there was a time when they thought the Prime Minister and his government were doing a good job. There was a time when they thought that, but these harsh laws have caused them to think again. And they are thinking again, and they are thinking, ‘The Howard government is trying to hurt me and my family.’ They believe the government has changed and they believe that that is a fork in the road.

In response to this sentiment in the Australian community, what has the Howard government done? It has appointed a new minister. It has not done anything of substance; it has appointed a new minister. When the Prime Minister gave us this new minister he said that he was ‘a good media performer’, that he was an ‘avuncular sort of bloke’. He actually contrasted him with the previous minister, whom he described as having ‘command of the detail’, something he obviously thought the new minister would never achieve.

So it is apparent from the government’s initial announcement of the new minister that they are not intending to help Australian working families by getting rid of these laws. It is the same old laws, the same old product, the same old politics from the Howard government, and changing the salesman does not fix that. These are the same unfair laws, and this is the same arrogant government. It does not matter who holds the job of Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. The Prime Minister might well describe this minister as a ‘big bear of a man’, but fronting these shameful laws means that he is more grizzly bear than teddy bear—because the truth is that these unfair laws have dire consequences for hardworking families, employers and employees throughout this country, and no-one is going to be distracted by the window dressing.

We know that these laws are unfair because they have caused Australians to lose pay and conditions. We know that they have ripped away basic award conditions, penalty rates, overtime, leave loading, public holidays—all of these have been taken away from Australian families through Australian workplace agreements. We know these laws have jeopardised the ability of families to plan their time together with regularity and that hours clauses and the ability to know when you are going to be at work and to plan your non-working time with your family have been torn up by these laws and by this government.

Earlier this year the Herald Sun ran a poll which had an alarming result. It said that 31 per cent of respondents did not spend enough time with their families. They felt that their families were missing out on the very basic thing they had to give, which was their personal time, care and concern. This government’s laws make that worse. They make the pressures on working families stronger. We already know that working families are struggling just to keep their heads above water. With this new pressure on them, it is too much for many of those working families to bear. We know many working families are struggling to balance the pressures of work and family life in the modern age, and these new laws undermine their ability to do so.

The government pretends that it is proud of these new laws, but if you hold these new laws up to the white light for a period of time, if you scrutinise them intently, they do not hold up to analysis. The government that is proud to spruik them in the broad does not actually want you to see the details. If the government was proud of Australian workplace agreements, if these AWAs were heralding a new era of flexibility, good working conditions and work-family life balance, you would think that the government would be publishing each of these AWAs. Of course it would take the individual identifiers off, but it would be publishing each of these AWAs. It would be publishing statistics about them. It would be only too proud to tell you how many of them have family flexibility clauses, how many of them gave people a huge, big pay increase.

But of course the government does not do that. It tipped out one set of stats which showed us that 100 per cent of AWAs had taken something, an award condition, away; that 64 per cent of AWAs had removed leave loading, 63 per cent had removed penalty rates, 52 per cent had removed shiftwork loadings and 41 per cent had taken away public holidays. The government knows they are a bad set of statistics. Since then, it has covered it up.

The challenge for the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, who is at the table, if he is really proud of these AWAs—if they are so glowing, so good for workers—is that he has a chance this week in Senate estimates to tell us all about it, and if he does not publish those statistics there will only be one reason. Why: because, whilst they pretend to be proud of these laws, they know the truth is shameful and they want to hide it. They do not want us to know what is going on with these laws. When you hold up to the light of day their spin that these laws have created jobs it falls away. It fell away in question time today with the statistics I put to the minister about employment growth—and of course there are more. Employment growth since Work Choices, from March 2006 to January 2007, has been 2.39 per cent, whereas in the same period in 2004-05 it was 2.64 per cent and in 2002-03 it was 2.79 per cent.

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