John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Abetz, representing the Minister for Workplace Relations. Can the minister confirm recent reports that three men were sacked in Victoria after one of them smirked at his boss and that a 16-year-old employee was made redundant from a Sydney juice bar only to be re-employed two days later on significantly lower wages? Is the minister aware that one of the three men sacked has three young children to support and was quoted as saying:

I had a lump in my stomach. [I was] shell-shocked. I need my money, I’ve got a mortgage.

Haven’t both of these events occurred since the government’s new industrial relations laws took effect on 27 March? Isn’t it now clear that some employers are taking advantage of the new laws to fire employees that they do not like or as a means of cutting their wages? How are these sacked workers better off under the new laws?