Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I can understand why the Liberal Party are playing games with this motion: it requires them to do something that they always hate doing and that is to come clean with the Australian people. This motion has four simple parts. Firstly, it acknowledges that the Australian people rejected Work Choices at the last election because it had hurt Australian working families by allowing them to be ripped off and dismissed without remedy or reason. Secondly, it recognises that the bill that the parliament has just passed ends the making of new Australian workplace agreements. That means that, on and from 1 January 2010, we will move to a workplace relations system that has no new individual statutory employment agreements in it. That is Labor’s way. That is what the Australian people voted for at the last election—a workplace relations system without any individual statutory employment agreements within it.

The fourth part of this motion requires the Liberal Party to do what they do not want to do. It requires them to come clean on whether or not, if re-elected, they will reintroduce at any time Australian workplace agreements or any other form of individual statutory employment agreement. We on this side of the House come to bury Work Choices.

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