Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2013. The true purpose of this bill is to deliver to the Labor Party's paymasters in the union movement the measures which they are demanding as the price for their continued support of this hopeless government. Amendments dealt with in the bill include introducing what are supposed to be new family-friendly arrangements, amending the modern awards objective to introduce specific reference to penalty rates, and amendments which the government is expected to make to reintroduce compulsory arbitration.

In the time available to me today, I would like to make three points about this bill. Firstly, it is about serving the interests of the union bosses and the union movement and putting the national interest last. Secondly, it is poor policy and poor process, rushed through and with little attempt to systematically address key recommendations of the Fair Work review. Thirdly, it will do serious economic damage, while the benefits it purportedly delivers are illusory.

Let me turn to the first proposition, that this bill is about serving the interests of the union bosses and the union movement. We know that this is a government which has assiduously served the interests of the union bosses, even though the proportion of the Australian workforce who are members of a union is at an all-time low, with only 12 per cent of private sector workers being union members. We know that this is a government which has consistently put the interests of union bosses ahead of the Australian people. We know that this is a government made up of ex-union officials, ex-union lawyers and ex-union employees, including the Prime Minister, who is a former trade union lawyer; the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, who is a former National Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union; the Minister for Social Inclusion, who is a former state secretary of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union; the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, who is a former official of the Australian Workers' Union and the son of Bill Ludwig, the long-term AWU big boss; the Minister for Climate Change—

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