Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I was graced in my electorate with a visit by the Prime Minister and his Minister for the Environment and Energy. I thought perhaps they'd come to talk to the local community about the investments we need for jobs growth, or perhaps they'd come to talk about the importance of education and stopping their cuts to schools, TAFE and universities. But, no, they'd come to do a quick doorstop at BlueScope Steel and to use it as a visual background for more of their half-baked energy policy discussion. But the minister, whilst he was there, in an amazing act of cheek, decided to try and align himself with Jimmy Barnes and working-class people. I have to say, he was very promptly slapped down on Twitter by Jimmy Barnes, who made it very clear that his song, his music and his views were in no way to be aligned with the policies of this government. It's not surprising.

This morning, like my colleagues, I met with the workers from Exxon in Victoria and their union representatives: the ETU, the AWU and the AMWU. They are people who are having their wages slashed and their pay and conditions attacked. They are people who pay more tax—not collectively, individually—than the employer that's trying to do this to them. This afternoon I'll meet with the Transport Workers Union and their workers, who are fighting for safety on the roads. This government will not come into my electorate again and claim to represent working-class people. It's a load of rubbish. (Time expired)