Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, Senator Ferris: fraud. Kim Beazley and his union bosses are about special rights for unions, not about individual rights or the right to get ahead. Australians want a workplace relations system that is about incentive, about being able to have a go, about getting ahead, about giving people the opportunity to earn more and about being able to determine your future. We want incentive built into the wages system so that you can be rewarded for what you are worth and the work that you do. The government has put into place a framework of opportunity that is good for individuals, for family breadwinners, for students and for small and large businesses—and that is good for the Australian economy.

Today we have seen communities around Australia disrupted to aid in perpetuating this political scare campaign. Thankfully, it was not as disruptive as intended, because the numbers were so low. But I want to raise what happened in Wollongong. My electorate office is based in the Illawarra. I will start by congratulating the overwhelming majority of Illawarra workers who did not take part in the political protest organised by the South Coast Labour Council. There are approximately 170,000 workers in the Illawarra region; yet only a very minute number of these marched today, causing disruption for the sake of some cheap political point-scoring exercise for the Labor Party and the South Coast Labour Council. It is a continuation of the scare campaign in the Illawarra, and Wollongong was, once again, needlessly disrupted in this desperate struggle.

How surprised was I this morning to learn that the National Secretary of the CFMEU, Mr John Sutton, came to my electorate office in Wollongong, demanding to speak to me about industrial relations laws when, clearly, this is a parliamentary sitting week! The local union boss was standing outside my office spruiking that I was not there to listen to their claims—and I was at work. Unlike him, I was here representing my constituents in New South Wales. How desperate are they when they have to spruik outside parliamentary offices because we are not there to listen to their— (Time expired)