Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Or core dead or not dead! I would say that it is an acronym for dead-ended debate. Remember, by their own admission, that this is a party of Lazarus and triple bypasses. It will surely rise again. We know from the debates and the interaction we have had that, yes, they are saying that Work Choices is dead but they are giving every argument for why our legislation is wrong and should not proceed. What are the alternatives? We do not know what they are. Work Choices is not dead; it is just D-E-D for now. Let us keep an eye on this. When people go to the polls in two years time, they should understand that the Liberal Party is driven by the need to reform industrial relations—whatever that means in their speak. We know it is driven by ideology, and that is my concern. We should all understand when the terminology starts to roll. Their campaign slogan might be something like ‘deal or no deal’ or ‘bold employment options’ or ‘jobs of fortune’ or ‘the job is right’. We must watch this space, because it is not dead as we understand it; it is just D-E-D.

The member for Warringah has certainly spoken a lot on this issue and talked about comparisons. Before I close in tonight’s debate can I say that those opposite talk about how this was nation building for the Howard government, how it was great for prosperity. I understand that the national average unemployment rate is around 4½ per cent. In Queensland, my home state, we are running at 3½ per cent. Queensland is a state that has a very, very strong industrial relations base. I should at this stage commend the current minister in Queensland, John Mickel, who always brought the arguments up to the Howard government in terms of where their legislation, Work Choices, did not fit.

I close today by saying that the end of Work Choices is good. We have got the legislation that will make those changes. The Fair Work Bill goes towards our other nation-building strategies. We must maintain our vigilance and our push to change this country for the better. For those reasons, I commend this bill to the House.

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