John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. I again refer to the Australian Sweets AWA. Minister, isn’t it the case that this AWA provides a base rate of pay of only $530.45 per week, a cut of $36.55 per week against the relevant state award? Why do you arrogantly ignore hundreds of thousands of Australians who told you today that AWAs like this cut their take-home pay?

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

I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. The reality is that people under these changes are better off. That is the reality.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Look at the comparison between AWAs and awards. On average, people on AWAs receive 100 per cent more than those on the relevant award. That is what the data shows in relation to AWAs. We have something like 700,000 people in Australia who are currently on AWAs and more than one million AWAs have been entered into since they came into operation. The reality is that this provides flexibility and incentives for many workers and their families. A person working on an AWA is much more likely to be rewarded for extra performance than somebody on a collective agreement, let alone somebody on an award. That is the reality of the workplace in Australia today. As I said to the member for Perth, we will have a look at this AWA, but I do not take on the say-so of the member for Perth what is in any particular document, because he has been shown to be wrong on so many occasions.