Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

It was 950,000, almost a million. The member for Canning would be pleased to know that some 21,000 have been signed by people living in his electorate—just a few more than have been signed by people living in Brand, the electorate of the Leader of the Opposition.

Why are so many Australians signing Australian workplace agreements? Part of the reason is that, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, people on AWAs earn 100 per cent more than people employed under awards. No wonder 21,000 AWAs have been signed in the electorate of Canning. These instruments have become an integral part of Australia’s industrial landscape: for example, they are an integral part of the massive boom in the mineral and resources industries in Australia. Just recently Steve Knott, the Executive General Manager of the Australian Mines and Metal Association, estimated that if Australian workplace agreements were abolished, as proposed by the Leader of the Opposition, it would cost the mining industry in Australia $6.54 billion. Some $6.54 billion would be the cost to the mining industry in Australia because of the decision, if ever implemented, of the Leader of the Opposition to rip up Australian workplace agreements.

Over the weekend, we saw more support and evidence for flexibility within the workplace relations system coming from the Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Mr Geoff Dixon, who foreshadowed that Jetstar would also be making use of AWAs. Why is this? Let me quote from Mr Dixon as to why:

We have created jobs, unlike just about every other airline in the world. We can continue to create jobs if we can change the way we operate further and we are going to do that. What we must do and I will say now, we will have to have a degree of flexibility in how we employ people. We’ve been virtually a union-held company for many many years. We have 16 unions; we have 45 enterprise bargaining agreements within this company and 20 of them, or 15 of them, are live at the moment, in other words, we are negotiating them.

I can understand why Qantas and Jetstar want flexibility. It is because they talk about 45 enterprise agreements.

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