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

As the parliament meets today there are workers who are rallying in New South Wales against a workplace relations assault by the Liberal Party. They are teachers, they are nurses, they are firefighters—they are workers who keep the public services alive in New South Wales. And from the reaction to this question it is clear that the Liberal and National parties in this parliament hold such working people in complete contempt—teachers, nurses, firefighters. They hold them and their workplace relations rights in complete contempt. Of course, that contemptuous attitude towards the rights of working people is something that is very familiar to the Australian community, because it was shown to the Australian people by the Liberal Party in office when it brought Work Choices to this country. I, as the relevant minister, and the Labor government were determined to get rid of Work Choices because it was a cost-of-living dagger to the heart of working Australian families: hardworking people whose job security was attacked, hardworking people whose basic pay and conditions were attacked and hardworking people who had their job security lessened by the removal of unfair dismissal rights.

We have heard a bit today from the Liberal Party about the question of job security for working people. Their track record in government was they could not care less; they wanted working people to be sacked more easily. Let us remind ourselves what Work Choices did to Australian working people through Australian workplace agreements.

Mr Hartsuyker interjecting—

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