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 inform the House how a flexible, modern and decentralised workplace relations system is helping to create better jobs and higher wages? Are there any alternative policies?

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. There is no doubt that the workplace relations reforms introduced by this government over the last 11 years have helped to build a stronger economy. More recently, abolishing the application of unfair dismissal laws on small business, improving flexibility in the workplace, ensuring for example that we have a strong and independent regulator of the construction industry and ensuring that we have the Fair Pay Commission to make decisions independently about the minimum wage all form part of the fabric that helps to build a strong and prosperous economy with an unemployment rate of only 4.4 per cent. The Labor Party’s policies will destroy that. The Labor Party’s industrial relations policy, which was written by two people—the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Greg Combet—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about Dean Mighell?

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

I did forget Dean Mighell. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. He had the input into the building commission, he had the input into patent bargaining, and I suspect he had the input into right of entry, which we will get to on another day and talk about it there. That is why people should not be fooled by every interview with the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition about their industrial relations policy, because it changes all the time. The truth of the matter is that 100 per cent of the members of parliament from the Labor Party are members of the trade union movement, yet only 15 per cent of the private sector workers in Australia are members of the trade union movement. Seventy per cent of the Labor Party frontbench are former union officials. The unions have donated over $50 million to the Labor Party over the last few years, and there is no doubt that, as part of the $100 million war chest assembled by the Labor Party in the lead-up to the election, it will help to get further union officials into the Labor Party ranks. Greg Combet is running in Charlton, Bill Shorten is running in Maribyrnong, Doug Cameron is running for the Senate, Don Farrell is running for the Senate, Richard Marles is running for the Senate and Kevin Harkins is running in Franklin. They all happen to be safe Labor seats where those union officials are running. I want to quote the Leader of the Opposition in an address to the National Press Club in April this year. Not only did he endorse all those union bosses coming into the Labor Party; he said:

... get them in and get them in early.

Of course Greg Combet could not hold back. Greg Combet said:

I recall we used to run the country and it would not be a bad thing if we did again.

Dean Mighell said things down at the hall that the Leader of the Opposition and, quite frankly, everyone else found quite offensive. But the Leader of the Opposition said on TV that he demanded his resignation. He was so outraged about the words of Dean Mighell that he demanded his resignation. Of course, like a whole lot of roosters in the rooster pen, all the roosters came out on this—the member for Lilley, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition; they all came out. I just say to them that I am reminded of the comment from Sharan Burrow in a Lateline interview, funnily enough, with Maxine McKew—hardly a penetrating interview—and from Greg Combet, who happened to pass comment on the same Lateline program. I thought to myself, ‘Was Dean Mighell sacked because of his language?’ Greg Combet in that program said, ‘Don’t be conned for a minute by any of John Howard’s—expletive.’ Well, Greg Combet has not been sacked yet. He is still there. Obviously it was not the language. Do you know what it might be about? I think it might be about the outrage the Australian people felt at the behaviour and insensitivity of Dean Mighell. That is what people were outraged about.

I was reminded of Sharan Burrow’s comment—and I want to know if the Leader of the Opposition supports this comment from Sharan Burrow. She said:

I need a mum or a dad of someone who has been seriously injured or killed. That would be fantastic.

That is what Sharan Burrow said. ‘It would be fantastic to find someone who was the victim of a workplace death. That would help the union movement in their campaign against the Howard government.’ The Labor Party should be judged on what they do, not what they say. When it comes to double standards, look at what they have got on the record. I table that.