Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014 and reject the opposition's amendment. This bill is part of our economic reform program as promised before the election and is also part of our jobs plan. I will have more to say about jobs later in this speech.

Members will know that I am a former chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As such, I know a bit about the subject of the bill before the House. Industrial relations has been a fraught area of debate in the Australian polity for more than 100 years now. Despite our opponents' simplistic attempts to demonise our views on industrial relations, the fact is that our approach is to actually put in place an industrial relations framework that improves wages and terms and conditions over the long term. We want to boost the incomes of employees as well as employers. Our opponents say that we hate trade unions. That is not true. Many on our side of politics have been members of unions. I am particularly proud of the fact that my great-grandfather, William Hendy, was a founding member of the Queensland Teachers' Union and was one of the first general secretaries of the union in the late 1800s. The member for Moreton, who is just leaving the chamber, may be interested to know that, given his background in the education union.

Mr Champion interjecting—

The member for Wakefield is a member of the Shoppies, are you?

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