Joe Bullock (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Abetz. I refer to the government's decision to freeze the superannuation guarantee for millions of workers and to AMP chief executive, Mr Craig Meller, who says the guarantee should be increased to 12 per cent because, 'Saving just 9½ per cent of your earnings is not enough.' Is Mr Mellor right?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In these matters you cannot just look at one situation in isolation. As we have seen from the tax review by the Australian Labor Party under Dr Ken Henry, he fully acknowledged and suggested that the superannuation guarantee increases should not be occurring because superannuation guarantee payments are ultimately paid for by less wages.

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So they are going to get more wages, are they? Tell us how they are going to get more wages.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, Senator Doug Cameron, as is his want, interjects nonstop to completely trash the reputation of Labor's former head of Treasury, Dr Ken Henry. Why they do it, I do not know, but that is what Senator Doug Cameron is doing. It stands to reason that the more one puts into superannuation the more one would have later on in life. That is logical. The question is: is it affordable today, given all the economic imperatives and problems we face for that to occur? Those opposite would be aware that—

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought the Liberals supported thrift.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We do support thrift. That is why we have been seeking to stop the debt burden inflicted on the Australian people by those opposite. One thousand million dollars per month is being borrowed from overseas to pay the interest on the debts incurred by the Australian Labour Party and they have the audacity to hector and lecture us about thrift. What an audacity! (Time expired)

Joe Bullock (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. On the question of wages, I refer to the Prime Minister's advice that for workers, 'By delaying the increase in the superannuation guarantee levy, we are keeping more money in workers' pockets.' How will hundreds of thousands of workers covered by enterprise agreements negotiated before the government froze the superannuation guarantee get more money in their pockets?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we have regrettably been seeing around this country is too many Australian workers losing their employment and it might not be dawning on some of the former trade union officials sitting opposite but it is dawning on some practising trade union officials that sometimes it is worthwhile to say no pay increase to protect jobs. The AMWU saw the sense of that at SPC. It was the National Union of Workers who saw the sense of that at Coca-Cola Amatil in recent times. Even the CFMEU in Western Australia was mugged by that reality recently with a building company where they agreed to a substantial reduction in income to protect their jobs.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pause the clock. Senator Cameron, a point of order?

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, yes, I raise a point of order on realities. The question was quite clear: how are workers to get a wage increase if they are covered by an enterprise agreements?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister has been addressing that question directly, Senator Cameron. If you did not interject as much, you may have heard more of his answer.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The best workplace condition that any worker can have is a job in the first place. (Time expired)

Joe Bullock (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Will the government enable workers, whose enterprise agreements were negotiated between 7 September 2013 and 2 September 2014, to renegotiate wage increases in order to compensate for the adverse freeze on superannuation contributions?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not think anybody would want the government to start intervening in enterprise agreements negotiated between workers and employees, sanctioned by the Fair Work Commission. If Senator Bullock wants the government to start setting the wages in this country, let him say so, let him say that that is the new Labor Party policy. But I doubt it very much.

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.