John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Well they laugh! I remember that earlier this year the Leader of the Opposition said that if he became Prime Minister he was going to keep AWAs. He said that. He said earlier this year: ‘A Beazley government will keep the AWAs. We will do them differently, but we will keep them.’ That was not good enough for John Robertson of Unions New South Wales. He said, ‘If you want to remain leader of the Labor Party, you’ll tear up AWAs and you’ll come out against them.’ And what happened at the state conference of the ALP at Sydney Town Hall? The Leader of the Opposition marched in and said: ‘I will do what the union movement wants me to do: I’ll tear up AWAs.’ You can be sure of one absolute, eternal truth about Australian politics: if you want choice in the workplace, if you want higher wages, if you want more jobs, vote for the coalition.

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