Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Would the minister update the House on the impact of the government’s workplace relations reforms of the Australian economy? Is the minister aware of any threats to these reforms?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for La Trobe for his question. He is a great member for La Trobe. In 1996 the unemployment rate in his electorate was 6.2 per cent. Today it is 3.5 per cent. And I can update the House on the impact of the government’s changes to the Labor Party’s job-destroying unfair dismissal laws. I look at the Sensis report which the Treasurer referred to a little bit earlier, which came out today. It is a good report. The report notes that already some 10 per cent of small and medium enterprises reported that they have made changes, with putting new workplace agreements into place being the most common action to date. SMEs in the Northern Territory are the most likely to have made changes so far. In the Northern Territory—Snowy, pay attention, and the member for Solomon over there—in February of last year, in the month before the introduction of Work Choices, the unemployment rate in the Northern Territory was 6.4 per cent; today it is two per cent. So there is no doubt that if you add together the Sensis survey and the outcomes as measured in the unemployment rate there is a positive impact associated with the removal of the unfair dismissal laws on small business. So it begs the question: why does the Labor Party want to reintroduce the job-destroying unfair dismissal laws? Why?

Government Members:

Why?

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

Order! Members on my right!

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It could only be that the Rudd-Gillard-Combet combo is going to deliver a platform for the trade union movement to re-enter every workplace.

Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Mr Speaker, I would ask that you enforce standing order 64.

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

I have been listening carefully to the minister, and, yes, I believe he could refer to members by their title or by their seat.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The net impact of the Labor Party’s job-destroying unfair dismissal laws is that they do cost jobs. Various surveys previously talked about in this place have said they could have an impact on up to 77,000 jobs out there in the community. The evidence now clearly illustrates that small business has embraced our Work Choices changes. Small business has said, ‘Yes, we will take the risk in employing people.’ And the OECD came out and said only a couple of weeks ago that the unfair dismissal laws disadvantaged those who are most vulnerable, particularly women and young people. They were the most disadvantaged by prescriptive labour laws because it made the risk of employing those people far greater for small business. So why do the Labor Party want to reintroduce these laws? It is only because of the pact they have with the trade union movement to let the trade unions back into every workplace and every small business. The trade unions will run the Labor Party if, on a dark day, they get into government. That is not just bad for jobs; that is bad for the Australian economy.