Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

that as Prime Minister I accept full responsibility for government programs—those programs which are judged by the community to be successful and those which are judged not to be successful. Where mistakes are made, our responsibility is to deal with those mistakes rather than to pretend that they do not exist or to push responsibility elsewhere.

The second thing I would say in response to the honourable member’s question is as follows. I outlined before the government’s commitment in relation to each worker. That was part of the insulation worker adjustment package. Let me recap that for his information. The government’s commitment is that each worker will receive one of three things. Each worker will receive support to retain their current job through the transition phase before the new renewable energy bonus program begins. This support will be provided through assistance to business to retain workers through the transition phase in either work or training. Or, secondly, the government will assist displaced insulation workers to find alternative jobs with other employers in other industries. This assistance will be provided through priority employment coordinators, dedicated insulation coordination officers and the resources of the Job Services Australia network. Or, thirdly, where appropriate employment opportunities are not available, the government will ensure that a relevant training place is available to displaced insulation workers.

That is our response to the problems which have arisen with the implementation of this program. I think some in this chamber would find the position of the Leader of the Opposition to be ironic. He is the former minister for industrial relations and one of the, shall I say, strongest advocates of Work Choices in the past and in the future—a system of industrial relations that had something to say about basic conditions, including redundancy payments. Can I say that the Leader of the Opposition should reflect on the consistency of his position on the broader protection of workers’ rights.

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