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

Once again I am happy to answer the shadow minister’s question, though I do note it is a bit out of order in the context of the debate. The answer to the shadow minister’s question is as follows: as the shadow minister would be aware, when the former government introduced Work Choices it performed economic modelling it never released. Consequently, his question is characterised by a hypocrisy that no right thinking person would accept. The hypocrisy is exposed.

The government produced a comprehensive statement about the impacts of the Fair Work Act. It was never really clear to me where the Liberal Party ended up on the Fair Work Act. The Leader of the Opposition at one point suggested that they were going to vote for it all, including the unfair dismissal provisions. Then he got dragged back by the ideologues in the party and they ended up basically voting for a set of blocking propositions in the Senate. What I would say to the shadow minister is that if he wants to have an honest public debate about this and he wants to go through the doors of this parliament and say, ‘We the Liberal Party stand for Work Choices,’ I say bring it on. We will have that debate all the way up until 2010 and beyond. Of course he never says that but, fuelled by that belief, he comes in and carps and criticises in the way that we have come to expect from the opposition during its days in opposition.

If the shadow minister is interested in the details of what is happening with the award modernisation process, he can follow it through. Piece by piece, consideration by consideration, as the commission works through the award modernisation process it is obviously being informed by the views of the stakeholders, including any views they want to put on impacts on employment. It is happening each and every step of the way in the award modernisation process. Can I say again to the shadow minister, as I said in my earlier contribution, we continue to work very solidly with businesses and address their concerns. I did that very recently in an amendment to the award modernisation request and I will continue in that very serious process. What I do not accept is that, in moving these unworkable and unnecessary amendments, the shadow minister is in truth representing anybody external to himself and the Liberal Party.

We will continue our very serious measured dialogue with employers, with their representative organisations, around getting award modernisation right, around all aspects of the implementation of the Fair Work system, just as in every part of the process to date—every piece of legislation, clause by clause, page by page, day by day—we have worked with representatives of the employers in a way never dreamed of or contemplated by the Liberal Party when they were in government. This is a government that consults and that can point to its track record on consulting. Our track record on consulting employers on workplace relations is superior to anything that was ever enacted by the Liberal Party when it was in office.

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