Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Furner for his question. I note his interest, particularly in Queensland, in the new industrial relations system. At the 2007 election, the Rudd government promised to bring in a fair and flexible workplace relations system that would provide job security for all workers, unlike Work Choices. Australians rejected the Liberal Party’s industrial relations extremism that allowed employees to be sacked for no reason at all. What this government is doing is delivering on its commitment to bring stability back to the Australian workforce. What they do need is certainty and stability in workplace relations, not the instability that Work Choices brought. The global financial crisis and global recession are causing job losses all around the world. The Rudd government has been absolutely up-front about the fact that the global recession will impact upon jobs here. That is why we are doing all we can to limit the impact on Australian workers and restore fairness and job security to our workplace relations through this new era of industrial relations.

We have listened to the Australian community and our new system will provide workers with a fair and comprehensive safety net of employment conditions, include special provisions for unfair dismissal, ensure fair enterprise bargaining and ensure all Australian employees are entitled to redundancy. Under Work Choices, Australian workers were sacked, as I have said, for no reason at all. And, yes, they do hang their heads in shame about that. Under Work Choices, Australian workers had their redundancies stripped away without a cent of compensation. This government legislated for the National Employment Standards to apply to all Australian employees and to ensure that redundancy is provided for in every agreement. We know that the Rudd government believes that Australian workers are entitled to a fair go. (Time expired)