Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Now that he has bothered to turn up, my question is to the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue. I refer the minister to his speech to the Pine Rivers industrial relations business breakfast on 12 August 2005, when he said about the government’s proposed industrial relations legislation:

Significantly, these changes will not be at the expense of workers’ capacity to negotiate with their employer—in fact, it will provide greater choice.

Minister, now that the legislation has come into force, does this remain your view?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If that is the best quote you can come up with, it is not worth turning up on time for your contributions. This campaign, orchestrated by a weak Leader of the Opposition, demonstrates how completely out of touch the opposition is with the Australian people, Australian workers and, in particular, Australian small business. This government has an industrial relations plan which has dedicated itself to helping people into work, making sure that people continue to enjoy the real wages growth which has increased to almost 17 per cent under this government. It has meant there are 1.7 million more people in jobs than there were under a corrupt Labor government when they were in partnership with the ACTU and other union organisers—when they were in government for 13 long years. I do not make any apology for supporting a very sound industrial relations policy. If the Labor Party is interested in the workers of Australia, it will get behind this policy.