Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

I was mentioning Work Choices and reminding Australians about that, but I do want to move on to horticulture and award modernisation. This a major piece of reform that was too tough for the Howard government to take on, but the Rudd government is doing it: reforming 2,400 outmoded state and federal instruments into 230 simple, modern awards. There have been discussions with the horticultural industry. In fact, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and her department met on 26 May with Horticulture Australia Council, Growcom, the National Farmers Federation, Fruit Growers Tasmania and the Australian Industry Group, and there have been further pieces of correspondence and also further phone calls. As Senator Fisher would know, though, these are quite difficult and complex issues that need to be worked through. They affect a very crucial sector of the economy and a very crucial workforce, so it will take time. Overwhelmingly, the task of award modernisation has been going extremely smoothly and has been very successful.