Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Perhaps I will frame it this way instead: while I was willing to give Senator Sheldon the respect of listening to his contribution, I hope he will listen as sincerely, and in the heartfelt fashion that this important issue deserves. I've got my doubts—nevertheless. Any job lost is a disaster. It's a disaster for the people involved and it's a disaster for us here in the coalition. It's part of the reason that the Morrison government has put so much effort and so much of the public's resources into trying to keep businesses strong so that they can keep their staff on. Whether we talk about the cashflow boost, about JobKeeper, about the instant asset write-off or about programs like HomeBuilder or JobMaker, we are trying to make it as easy as possible to keep working people in work. We know that when businesses are strong they can keep their staff on, and that gives the certainty families need to get through this time of uncertainty. I understand that anxiety; we all do. That's why our every effort is going into building that economic strength and resilience.

But the difficulty I have with the argument made by Senator Sheldon just a moment ago is that it takes a small piece of the puzzle and ignores all the other interconnected parts that go into whether or not a business is able to keep staff on. He's happy to talk about how we must at all times have rising wages, and he's happy to talk about how we must at all times have all people in secure work. These are all wonderful goals. But if we don't look at the context in which that occurs, it's actually pretty ignorant. Those opposite have fought tooth and nail for zero flexibility in the workplace. They have fought tooth and nail to deny businesses the chance they need to move people around or change the way they do things, or shift people into different skill sets to try to get through hard times and emerge stronger, more able to offer the kinds of high wages and security that is desirable. They've stood in the way of those important measures, every day that they have served in this parliament, going back decades. The issue of industrial relations is one that gets nothing but obstinacy from those opposite.

They need to confront a really uncomfortable truth, and that is that by their very obstinacy, their very refusal to countenance any kind of flexibility at any time, they end up with the very policies that tend to sign the redundancy papers of good people who deserve jobs. The fact is that businesses need to be able to adapt to difficult times, and this is one of those times. The failure to adapt, the failure to give a business that's struggling to cope with the situation the ability to shift gears in order to survive hard times, is what ends the opportunity for vulnerable people—like those who are in the gallery—to keep their jobs.

Instead of standing here and grandstanding, Senator Sheldon and his colleagues should apologise to the Qantas workers who've been let down by inflexible and unreasonable industrial relations attitudes from those opposite. I call upon those opposite to get in to a mental space where they confront the reality of the difficult market for aviation and the difficult market we all face during COVID and start to take a team Australia approach, because the prospects of business survival are actually compatible with the positive prospects of working people.