Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Claydon, I'd like to briefly take this moment to congratulate you on your election as Deputy Speaker. You are my parliamentary neighbour in the Hunter, and I know the people of Newcastle will be very proud of their member. Congratulations to you.

In 12 months, it will be 40 years since the very first Hawke-Keating accord. Why am I speaking about 40 years ago? I just want to run through some of the achievements of that accord. Of course, it brought unions, workers and the government together, and it included employers in the negotiations. It established the Economic Planning Advisory Council. The accord brought about a tripartite Australian Manufacturing Council together with industry councils. The introduction of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission came about 40 years ago as a result of the Hawke-Keating accord. Increases in family income supplements for low-income families came about, as did targeted tax cuts, various tax avoidance measures, increased pensions and unemployment benefits, and the fastest employment and economic growth in the OECD. The introduction of various steel and vehicle industry plans came about in 1983 as a result of the accord. The introduction of the three per cent award superannuation and, of course, many, many other benefits came about as a result of a Labor government, 40 years ago, coming together with unions, working with employer groups and working as a sensible and forward-thinking government.

In a few short weeks the Albanese government will have a jobs summit where, once again, a sensible, mature, forward-thinking government will come together with the leaders who create jobs across this country: union officials, businesspeople—people who want Australian people to be well employed, earning a decent wage for a fair day's work and moving our nation forward.

In the intervening period of those 40 years, there has been much disappointment for Australian workers. The fact that someone would be taken to court for having a cup of tea is beyond the pale for most average Australians. They don't want their tax dollars spent on this kind of nonsense. Having a sticker on your hard hat? For goodness's sake! Most ordinary Australians would hear this and think to themselves, 'Well, I know now why an iceberg lettuce is going north of $8.' It's because taxpayers' money has been rorted and ripped off by a government that is so obsessed with the union movement.

All the Leader of the Opposition at the moment could obsess about in the first questions on the first day of a new government in nine years was bikies and union thugs. It's a repetitious and boring old record. That's all he's been talking about for nine years. Well, can I say that the people of my electorate of Paterson want more than the same old, same old from the Leader of the Opposition and the tribe that he's brought along with him to sit on the opposition benches? They want more, and this government is going to deliver more.

We are going to deliver more jobs and more training for Australian people. We heard the minister today say we are going to put TAFE front and centre of training. There are so many young people—and older people, quite frankly—who want to improve their skill set so they can avail themselves of the opportunities that are coming down the line in Australia for people with the right qualifications. We want to be part of this exciting change. We want to work with business. We want to work with the unions. We want to work with training to ensure that our people are equipped to face the challenges that are coming.

As Treasurer Chalmers outlined today, we've got a lot of challenges coming—no thanks to this mob opposite, who laid the land mines for us to try to negotiate in the first few months of government—with a gas crisis, and with the crisis that has come from them trying to hide away the electricity rises that were coming as well. But we're alive and awake, and we're agile, and we will run this show much better than them. (Time expired)

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