Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand today to support the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 and the subsequent amendments that have been introduced into this chamber. I want to speak to those and also respond to some of the allegations that have been made by the Labor senators about the motivations of our government for this legislation. They accuse us of not being the friend of Australian working men and women. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

This is the anniversary of the birthday of Work Choices and we have seen that deliver—together with the strong economy, and the legislation and policies of the Howard government that support a strong economy—the creation of over 263,000 new jobs in the last 12 months. We have seen a 1.5 per cent increase in real wages in the last 12 months, not to mention the 19 per cent increase in real wages for Australian working men and women since the Howard government has been in office. You now have over 10 million Australians in the workforce. These are all attributes that really should be applauded. And the members of the Labor Party on the other side, instead of throwing brickbats, accusations and innuendo with respect to the false and negative motivations for this legislation, should think again. The legislation is driven by this government’s policy of continual improvement—