Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

or up there at Mount Druitt, or anywhere else, it must be very heartening to be told by a member of this parliament who was privy to the passing of this legislation that if they do not like it they do not have to take the job and, what is more, that they might think about starting their own business along the way. That is the arrogance of this government. That is the way that they treat people. To the little people out there—the people who are trying to support their families, trying to put food on the table and trying to do the little things that are necessary to get the kids to school and everything else—this is the arrogance that this government is showing: ‘If you don’t like the contract, don’t take the job.’

This is only one instance. My electorate is littered now with casualties of this legislation. When the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations visited my electorate only recently, I invited him to a meeting of all the people who claim to be victims of Work Choices. He and the member for Macarthur failed to turn up. (Time expired)

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