Stewart McArthur (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Would the minister confirm that the Office of Workplace Services has won back over $43 million for employees since its establishment? Is the minister aware of proposals to abolish this body protecting Australian employees and employers? What is the government’s response?

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Corangamite for his question and his support for ongoing workplace reform in Australia. I can confirm that the Office of Workplace Services, since its establishment in 1997, has won back more than $43 million for Australian workers where they were underpaid in the past. Indeed since the introduction of Work Choices on 27 March this year, the Office of Workplace Services has recovered over $5 million for almost 3,000 Australian workers. So this is a great service for Australian workers that the government has put in place. Furthermore, the Office of Workplace Services has conducted targeted industry education and compliance campaigns with the 193 inspectors and officials spread across 26 locations in Australia. These officials, those who have won back in total some $43 million for Australian workers, were the very same people who—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Lalor has been warned. She continues to interject. She will remove herself under standing order 94(a).

The member for Lalor then left the chamber.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I was saying to the House is that these officials, who have been responsible for reclaiming in total some $43 million for Australian workers where they have been underpaid, are the very same officials whom the Leader of the Opposition described here in question time, in a disgraceful attack, as snivelling little liars. That is what the Leader of the Opposition called these people. This was a disgraceful attack on officials who were doing a public service—and not only that; they were doing a great service for so many workers in Australia. If the Leader of the Opposition had an ounce of ticker, he would have the guts to stand up at the dispatch box in here and apologise to those officials who are doing such good work for Australian workers. His failure to do so since he made those claims, and his ongoing failure to do that, just proves once again that he is nothing more than a stooge for the union movement in this country.

I was asked about plans in relation to abolishing this workers’ watchdog. Indeed there are plans for that, because the Leader of the Opposition has announced that he would, if elected to government, abolish this Office of Workplace Services, which has done so much for Australian workers throughout this country. Once again it shows that the Leader of the Opposition does nothing but the bidding of the union officials in Australia. Indeed yesterday we heard the news from the Office of Workplace Services that it had recovered a record $650,000 for another group of employees in Australia.

And I note that the response to this news—$650,000 being recovered for a group of employees in Australia—by the member for Perth, the opposition spokesperson for workplace relations, was to once again attack the Office of Workplace Services. What hypocrisy from a party that says it represents the workers of Australia—it attacks the very officials out there who are doing this work on behalf of the workers of Australia!

Indeed, the member for Perth has been running around this country week after week, month after month, saying to anybody who will listen to him that Work Choices offers no protections for Australian workers. This action on the part of the Office of Workplace Services proves once again that his claims are simply untrue. When confronted with this reality—the reality of all this money which has been recovered on behalf of workers—all we have from the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Perth is yet another attack on the Office of Workplace Services. The Office of Workplace Services is protecting Australian workers; all the Leader of the Opposition wants to do is protect his union bosses.