Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I am rather bemused by Senator Furner’s glowing comments on the state of the economy in Australia and how well placed we are. The last time I checked, the state of the economy was the reason that the Labor government has done a backflip on its support for the ASU equal remuneration case that is currently before Fair Work Australia.

If anybody has been listening to talkback radio today or has actually bothered to read the newspapers, they would know that Labor’s backflip on its support for the ASU test case is now threatening to destroy the ALP’s relationship with the ASU. I have it on very good authority that an internal stoush has now arisen in the ranks of the union movement over the equal pay test case and that the ASU are white hot with anger. They are absolutely furious over Labor’s betrayal of them. There are now internal disputes between the ASU and the ACTU, and the union heavies involved in both of those unions, about just how hard they should push the Prime Minister on this issue. The biggest problem they have is that, on Saturday, there is a state election in Victoria. The ACTU are saying, ‘Please calm everything down,’ while the ASU—and good on the ASU, I say—want to attack Prime Minister Gillard and tear strips off the Gillard Labor government for its betrayal of community sector employees.