Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

In this, the 21st century, those sorts of notions have been dismissed, as I just pointed out in my previous answer, even by luminaries of the labour movement such as the Rt Hon. Tony Blair. What we are looking for is flexibility at the workplace—and flexibility at the workplace requires the confidence of small business employers to be able to put on staff without having the yoke of unfair dismissal legislation around their business necks. Mr Beazley himself has acknowledged the problems with the unfair dismissal laws as they existed in the past but, having acknowledged the problem, his answer is: ‘I will go back to those problems. I will not accept the reforms of the Howard government.’

I do not know of any employer who takes delight in sacking a worker. I know there are people like Senator Conroy who take great delight in seeing parliamentary colleagues sacked, but I do not know of an employer who wakes up of a morning and says, ‘Who can I sack today?’ They are concerned about the welfare of their business enterprise—the welfare of which determines their capacity to employ the workers within that enterprise. That is why, especially within the small business community, there is that close relationship between employer and employee—something which has driven up productivity and employment opportunities for our fellow Australians. Indeed, small business has been the engine room of economic activity and employment growth. All we had to do was ask small business, ‘Why aren’t you employing more people?’ and the one answer that came through loud and clear, time and time again, was, ‘The unfair dismissal laws act as a disincentive to employment.’