Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the following exchange he had with Laurie Oakes on the Sunday program on the weekend:

LAURIE OAKES: ... you can’t deny that a lot of workers are bargaining away conditions ... they lose their penalty rates, their holiday leave loadings ... They end up out of pocket.

JOHN HOWARD: I mean you talk about, did you say annual leave?

LAURIE OAKES: Annual leave loadings.

JOHN HOWARD: Yes, well annual leave, you can’t lose your annual leave.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member will come to his question. He will not debate his question.

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am, Mr Speaker. Laurie Oakes continued:

LAURIE OAKES: But you can bargain away the loading.

JOHN HOWARD: No, no hang on, you can’t.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Perth will come to his question!

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why did the Prime Minister mislead Laurie Oakes and the Australian people on Sunday when he said that annual leave loading cannot be bargain away?

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

I think all of us around here know that nobody misleads Laurie Oakes. Laurie Oakes is a very competent journalist. Let me say to the member for Perth that what I said on Sunday is perfectly true, and that is that under the law—and I am glad he asked me this question, because people have been running around the country around telling porkies about it; they really have. It amazes me—it shocks me, in fact—that people would go around saying that under the law you can bargain away your four weeks annual leave. You cannot do that.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order under standing order 104. The question is about annual leave loading. He is misrepresenting, as he did on Sunday.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler will resume his seat. The member for Perth asked a long question. The Prime Minister is in order.

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

I am telling the member for Perth that my assertion in relation to annual leave is absolutely true. Loadings were the subject of bargaining long before Work Choices. There is nothing revolutionary about that. Let me just remind the member for Perth in case he has forgotten that under the Work Choices law you are guaranteed four weeks annual leave. You cannot give that away. You are allowed at your request—that I think has to be in writing—to cash out up to two weeks of that. And do you know the state of Australia on which that particular provision is modelled? It was modelled on the industrial relations legislation of the Western Australian government.