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

Why is it that the Labor Party do not want to hear about the benefits afforded to the workers of this country? I am advised that a senior inspector from the Office of Workplace Services undertook a site visit of InstallEx yesterday and found no evidence that InstallEx has failed to abide by its industrial obligations. I am also advised that the redundancies are genuine and that redundancy certificates for all three workers have been finalised and are being lodged with the appropriate fund to ensure the workers receive their lawful entitlements without undue delay. With regard to the three redundant workers, I understand that two of the three are already working for a separate company, InstallEx Vic. Pty Ltd, which operates in the residential building industry.

What we have here is a classic case where we have built in flexibility. Without this flexibility, they would be without a job. That was the Labor Party remedy, and that is why we had one million fellow Australians unemployed under their regime. They still do not get it. People would prefer a job rather than being on the social scrapheap of unemployment.