Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

With great respect to the honourable senator, I do not agree with his figures or his calculations. The simple fact is that, since the Howard government has come to have its hands on the levers of the economy, Australian workers have enjoyed a real wage increase of 16.5 per cent. That of course is in stark contradistinction from that which they got under Labor—13 years of Labor got them a 0.2 increase in real wages. Since Work Choices came into being on 27 March we have seen a huge increase in employment, and there is nobody suggesting that that huge increase has come from anything other than the change in the climate as a result of Work Choices. So, when the honourable senator refers to security for families, giving them a job is the best form of security any government can provide to its citizens. Since Work Choices, when unemployment was slightly above five per cent, we have seen it come down to 4.6 per cent. So we have seen a very real benefit to the families of Australia through Work Choices.

The indications are that, in the past 12 months, Australian workers have in fact provided a 2.2 per cent increase in the productivity of this country. The last statistics indicated that the real wage increases over the past 12 months were about 4.1 per cent, if my memory serves me correctly. I see some senators nodding, so I hope that is correct. If it is not, I am more than willing to come in and correct that figure. Suffice to say that Australian workers are undeniably knowing the benefits of Work Choices and the Howard government’s method of looking after the economy and workers.

We have seen industrial disputation at the lowest level ever. If you honestly thought workers were worse off today than they were before, can somebody explain to me, and all the other Australian people, why industrial disputation is at the lowest level since records were kept? I would have thought that that statistic was a very important statistic in indicating worker satisfaction with the current industrial regime, with the wages that they are getting and with the job opportunities that they receive courtesy of the tough decisions that we as the Howard government have taken.