Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am commenting on an obstacle to the implementation of the government’s plan. I understand that the member for Sturt may consider this obstacle to be irrelevant, but the name of this obstacle is the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is standing in the way of the government’s plans because the announced position of the Liberal Party at the moment is that unless we bring back the Australian workplace agreements that ripped off working Australians, including working women, then the Liberal Party will not pass the government’s bills. It will prevent the government delivering Forward with Fairness.

As the chairs are reshuffled over there, and we get a new spokesperson on workplace relations, the signs are not good, because in October 2006 the new shadow spokesperson on workplace relations said this:

Work Choices is a continuation of the Howard government’s proud record on women and work.

Could anybody be more out of touch? Could anybody be more delusional about what Work Choices meant for working women? This is the attitude of the Liberal Party. Shadow ministers may come or go, but the one thing that the Liberal Party stands for, will always stand for and clearly stands for under the new shadow minister is Work Choices pure and simple—with all of its rip-offs.

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