Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are some jilted lovers out there. They include all those who took heart when the member for Warringah spoke on the PM radio program on 16 November 2007. This is the member who has been running around the country trying to whip up fear amongst manufacturing workers and other workers in this country. This is the bloke who proposes to have a newfound affection for workers in this country. He said, 'The best protection for the worker who feels that he or she may be under pressure at his job is the chance of getting another job'—that is, hump your bluey and move to another place down the road. This is the bloke who professes to have a deep concern about the job security concerns of workers in this country. Amongst the other jilted lovers will be those of the HR Nicholls Society. They took great heart, at their 2001 conference, when the now Leader of the Opposition said:

One of the most important Howard Government policies has been the introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements …

This is the Howard government policy which saw the reduction in job protection rights contained within awards and agreements for literally thousands of manufacturing workers around the country and workers in the coalmining industry. These were the protections that their AWA policies wilfully did away with.

So there are a few jilted lovers, like those in the HR Nicholls Society, but there are also a few confused members on the opposition bench. They get confused when they listen to the Leader of the Opposition and think that his current professions of love and affection are inconsistent with— (Quorum formed). The calling of a quorum shows that they are trying to gag debate and that they have a glass jaw when it comes to criticism.

It is a ridiculous debate we are currently engaged in because, if you look at the supposed policies of the competing parties on this issue, we have the same targets. We have the same targets for renewable energy and we have the same targets for reducing our carbon emissions. The only thing that is different between our side of politics and theirs is how you reach those targets. There is a smart way and a dumb way and their way is the dumb way. (Time expired)

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