Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

This was a government that was stale, out of puff, out of ideas, out of touch, and it is now out of office. And we can see why. It is quite clear that the former Howard government was ready to depart, and the people of Australia saw to that on 24 November.

There is some considerable irony in the fact that it is the Manager of Opposition Business who is talking about accountability of the parliament and talking about the conditions upon which he is prepared to work on Friday. Just think about that. The Manager of Opposition Business does not want to work five days a week. That is really what is going on here. But when he was the minister, he was responsible for imposing on working families AWAs which allowed a seven-day working week for many working people, scrapping unfair dismissal laws, slashing sick leave, cutting penalty rates on weekends and public holidays, and putting unfair and extreme AWAs onto vulnerable employees. We have the opposition saying, ‘We think it is okay for young, vulnerable working Australians to be presented with these contracts and to have to sign up, giving away their provisions,’ and yet also saying, ‘We have to have conditions upon which we are prepared to work five days a week.’

The Leader of the National Party let the cat out of the bag last week. The coalition gathered for a two-day party room meeting. It is pretty clear that nothing positive or constructive came out of it. Afterwards they gathered at Menzies House for a little celebration of how well they had gone in the last year—

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