House debates Workplace Relations Amendment (a Stronger Safety Net) Bill 2007

Second Reading

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 House of Representatives

Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

9:43 am

and I think the minister at the table, Mr Lloyd, will be interested in this—that later today I will move four in-detail amendments, all about fairness, and if he cares about fairness he can vote for them. With those words I move:

That all words after “That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:“whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House condemns the Government’s lack of honesty about:

(1)
its plans for extreme industrial relations laws before the last election;
(2)
the impact of its inherently unfair Work Choices laws including the way these laws have:
(a)
caused the pay and conditions of individuals on Australian Workplace Agreements to be cut;
(b)
allowed good workers to be dismissed for no reason at all;
(c)
placed an unprecedented paperwork burden on small businesses; and
(d)
destroyed the independent industrial umpire;
(3)
the cost of the taxpayer polling research which apparently led the Government to dropping the term ‘Work Choices’ and bringing this Bill to the House;
(4)
the magnitude of the taxpayer funded advertising campaign to promote the Government’s political spin on industrial relations;
(5)
the fact that this Bill leaves Australians still overwhelmingly exposed to the harshness of Work Choices; and
(6)
its intention to legislate even harsher laws if re-elected”.

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