Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Make no mistake, this is a government that is deeply committed to attacking the Australian social compact. This is a government that is committed to dividing Australians, not bringing them together. This is a government that is committed to pulling apart the social wage that has sustained that Australian social compact. We have seen that in the government's desperate attempts to undermine Medicare through this rotten budget. This is a government that is also committed to undermining the wages and conditions of Australian workers. We see this in the clear language before us in the reference the Treasurer has given to the Productivity Commission. We see that in the words on paper, not the words spoken in such a dissembling way by the Minister for Employment today.

One thing we do know about this government is that they should not be judged by their word. This government, which said one thing before the election, has done something else since. They should be judged by their actions. This is a government that is committed to extending what should stay dead, buried and cremated. The Productivity Commission report is a road map back to Work Choices. It puts at risk everything that matters to every Australian who works for a living. It does not acknowledge the real circumstances of Australian families—for all the weasel words we heard before the election. This is a government that is out of touch with the circumstances of Australian families and untrustworthy. Perhaps more profoundly it is a government that is unconcerned about the people they should be representing and that is why they should be condemned. (Time expired)

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