Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me no pleasure to stand here and speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Further Strengthening Job Seeker Compliance) Bill 2015. I support the second reading amendment wholeheartedly. The former Prime Minister—the former Prime Minister Abbott, that is—said that Work Choices was 'dead, buried and cremated', and I think there were a few stunts to underline that effect. But what we see today is life being breathed back into Work Choices. This is Work Choices on water, as it has been dubbed, and there are pretty good reasons for that. It is called Work Choices on water because this legislation will see the wholesale sacking of an Australian maritime workforce, the driving down of wages and the removal of people who are enjoying Australian wages and conditions and being replaced with foreign workers.

Not since the Peter Reith and John Howard-led Patrick waterfront dispute have we seen such an attack on waterfront workers, on seafarers, on the maritime industry in this country. At least then they had the courage to do it in broad daylight—there were balaclavas and dogs. They are not as visible this time but there are plenty of balaclavas and dogs in the legislation.

Member for Hughes, it was George Bernard Shaw who said, 'The government that tries to rob Peter to pay Paul can always rely on the support of Paul.' Well, the champion for Paul is at the back of the chamber. What he is proposing to do is rob a group of workers to support the profits of the companies that he supports. I argue, and all those on this side of the House argue, that Australia is a better country than that. If we want to improve our productivity, there is a better way of going about it. We made some decisions back in the 1980s that we did not want to be a low-wage, low-productivity country, that we wanted to have good and decent jobs and high productivity. The productivity improvements enhancements we have seen on the waterfront and on the waterside have gone through the roof, through cooperation—

Mr Craig Kelly interjecting—

Isn't it interesting how empty tins always make the most noise.

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