Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. I refer the minister to the investigation by the Office of Workplace Services into the offering of Australian workplace agreements to approximately 150 casual employees of the chocolate company Darrell Lea. Minister, isn’t it the case that the Office of Workplace Services is investigating only the process Darrell Lea undertook in offering these AWAs, not the content of the AWAs—which is legal under Work Choices?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It would be entirely inappropriate for me to make passing comment on investigations currently underway by the Office of Workplace Services.

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also addressed to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Would the minister inform the House of the importance of workplace reforms for continued economic growth? Are there any threats to this growth?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Stirling for the question. I note that, in 1996, the unemployment rate in Stirling was 9.4 per cent, and today it is 5.2 per cent. Good news there, Mr Speaker! The economic reforms of past years have helped to deliver a strong economy today, and today’s reforms help to deliver a strong economy for tomorrow. All the reforms undertaken by this government—such as getting the budget back into surplus, paying off $96 billion of Labor government debt, taxation reform, reform of the waterfront—have been opposed by the Labor Party. More recently, the Labor Party has opposed the Future Fund—

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Costello interjecting

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and now want to raid the Future Fund, as the Treasurer reminds me. All of those initiatives, including the changes to workplace relations, have helped to deliver a stronger economy. One of the most significant groups which has benefited from the changes to workplace relations has been women. Since March 2006, when Work Choices was introduced, employment for women has risen by 113,500 jobs. Most significantly, 87 per cent of those 113,500 jobs have been full-time jobs. Since March 1996, the participation rate of women in the workforce has increased from 53.7 per cent to 57.6 per cent. The wages of women in the workforce have increased in real terms by more than 22 per cent. That is pretty positive stuff.

Everyone is wondering what the Labor Party’s policy is on workplace relations. You should not have to go too far because the chief spokesman for the Labor Party, Greg Combet, and his deputy, Sharan Burrow, are out there every day defending the Labor Party’s workplace relations policy, which is to reintroduce pattern bargaining, reintroduce the unfair dismissal laws, centralise the industrial relations system and so on. We have heard a bit of speculation recently that the Leader of the Opposition is seeking to manufacture a ‘Blair moment’ at the national conference—that is, to set up a straw man and then knock him over. He is going to pretend that he is being tough on the unions. I wondered to myself, ‘What is a Blair moment?’ I went back to what I think is a pretty impressive speech from Tony Blair at the Trades Union Congress, Brighton, on 9 September 1997. That was 10 years ago. In that speech Tony Blair commits to reduce tax—of course, the Labor Party oppose that. He commits to welfare to work—and the Labor Party in Australia oppose that. He said:

We will keep the flexibility of the present—

labour—

market. And it may make some shiver, but ... in the end it is warmer in the real world.

He is saying that he is going to keep the reforms of the Tory government, the Thatcher government, and continue them because they are in the best interests of the workers of Britain. If that is a Blair moment, we cannot expect that from Kevin. The Leader of the Opposition speculated on what ‘a Kevin’ is. We know what a Kevin is: it is Sharan Burrow putting a half-nelson on the Leader of the Opposition. That is a Kevin. He is going to pretend that it is him putting a half-nelson on Sharan Burrow.

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

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order, which goes to standing order 64.

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

I have been listening carefully to the minister. I believe he is in order. I call the minister.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we do know, as the member for Stirling would know, from the well-written editorial in the Western Australian today is:

His—

meaning the Leader of the Opposition—

failure to break ranks with the unions locks him into a regression to industrial turmoil, which ACTU secretary Greg Combet has referred to as the good old days when unions ran the country. Even if it was intended as a joke, it was revealing of union ambitions and demands of a possible Labor government.

It is not the Australian Labor Party; it is the Australian union party. It is funded by the unions, its policy is written by the unions and, significantly, the union bosses are coming into parliament to replace all the patsies here.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. I again refer the minister to the Darrell Lea Australian workplace agreements—these workplace agreements I am holding up here—and the fact that these AWAs do not provide an increased casual hourly rate of pay from the existing rate of pay and do not provide for a pay increase over the five-year life of the agreement, while they do reduce the Saturday rate of pay, scrap Sunday penalty rates and scrap public holiday penalty rates. Will the minister confirm that this agreement, which strips the conditions and pay of these workers, is valid under Work Choices?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is going to disappoint the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, but I am not going to give a running commentary on something she holds up in question time or an investigation by the Office of Workplace Services. But I do make this point: the real spokesman for the Labor Party, Greg Combet—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

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

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has asked her question.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The real spokesman on industrial relations for the Labor Party, Greg Combet, has said that it is okay for him to trade penalty rates off—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

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

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is warned!

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is not the real spokesman on industrial relations for the Labor Party—Greg Combet is. Greg Combet said that, on many occasions, he has traded off penalty rates for higher wages.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! The member for Lilley.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Tanner interjecting

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

The member for Melbourne is warned!

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If it is okay for Greg Combet to trade away penalty rates, why isn’t it okay for individuals to negotiate their own employment outcome? The Labor Party does not like that. The Labor Party never likes to take into account the interests of the workers because it is just a party for the union bosses.

Jackie Kelly (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Small Business and Tourism. Would the minister inform the House of the response of small businesses to proposals to change the unfair dismissal laws?

Fran Bailey (McEwen, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and for her very passionate support for small businesses. Over the past 12 months, small businesses have been speaking out very strongly in support of the Howard government exempting them from Labor’s unfair dismissal laws. Since becoming the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Griffith has said that Labor would listen to small business on this very important issue of unfair dismissals. In fact, when asked on ABC radio on 28 March about the Labor Party’s policy on unfair dismissals, the Leader of the Opposition said in no uncertain terms:

Julia Gillard at present is working that through with the small business community ... trying to get the balance right

Earlier, on Channel 10, the deputy leader said:

I’m prepared to talk to small business on the substance of their concerns and see what we can do to address those concerns. That’s a genuine offer, it’s a serious offer.

Then, of course, we had the member for Rankin—who unfortunately appears to have gone missing in action—in a memorable interview with Madonna King on 28 February. He said:

… we will take account of the special circumstances of small businesses in developing our policies and we have not arrived at a position on how we will do that in terms of a precise policy because that will be released after we consult …

Small business today has spoken out very strongly with one voice. It is now time for the Labor Party to demonstrate whether in fact they have been listening. I can tell you, Mr Speaker, that after listening to the member for Rankin, the Small Business Coalition, a group of 26 small business groups, today released their policy statement which sets down their opposition to any changes to the current exemption from unfair dismissals.

I think that we should know exactly who the members of the Small Business Coalition are. Let me tell you. They are the Association of Consulting Engineers, the Australian Newsagents Federation, the Australian Petroleum Agents and Distributors Association, the Retailers Association, the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, the CPA, the Franchise Council of Australia, Master Builders Australia, the Motor Trades Association of Australia, the National Farmers Federation, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Real Estate Institute of Australia, and Restaurant and Catering Australia, plus the state chambers of commerce from the ACT, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.

Let me advise the House of what all 26 of these small business organisations have come out today and said with one voice:

A key WorkChoices reform for small business was the introduction of the exemption for small and medium businesses from unfair dismissal claims. This exemption has finally provided small businesses with increased confidence in hiring, demonstrated by increased employment levels following the introduction of WorkChoices.

The SBC considers retention of this fundamental exemption as absolutely essential to ongoing growth and success of small businesses.

Importantly, all 26 of them say—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! The minister has the call.

Fran Bailey (McEwen, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can stand here for as long as is necessary to get this on the record. Importantly, they say:

Any moves to roll back or water down these reforms would be against the interests of small businesses.

It is now time for the opposition to release their unfair dismissal policy. They have an opportunity. Who is the Leader of the Opposition listening to: small business or Greg Combet? I will table the list of all of those small business organisations.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. I again refer to this Darrell Lea Australian workplace agreement. Minister, what is fair or family friendly about a pay cut followed by a five-year pay freeze?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I refuse to accept the facts provided by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. That might come as a rude surprise to some, but I have been misled by her on a few facts previously. I know that is hard to believe, but it is quite true. I will tell you what: there is nothing family friendly about 11 per cent unemployment. There is nothing family friendly about real wages decreasing as they did under the Labor Party. I have been sitting there wondering what the motivation of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition would be on this last sitting day before Easter to ask this question. I reflected on the fact that it was Sharan Burrow who said that Santa Claus would not come last Christmas because of Work Choices. Now we have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition invoking Darrell Lea and saying the Easter bunny is not going to come this Easter. I say to her: leave the kiddies alone. They deserve to think the Easter bunny is coming this Easter.

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

The minister will resume his seat. Has the minister completed his answer? The minister has completed his answer.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the Darrell Lea Australian workplace agreement which clearly shows that pay has not gone up and there is a five-year pay freeze.

Leave granted.

What is good for families about that? You stand up here and go—

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

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will resume her seat. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition was given leave to table that document.

Julia Irwin (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mrs Irwin interjecting

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

The member for Fowler is warned! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition sought leave to table the document. Leave was given. She was asked to resume her seat. If she continues to disobey, I will deal with her.