Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Listening to Senator Colbeck make that pathetic defence of the loss of 60,000 jobs in the economy is just mind-boggling, I must say. It is absolutely pathetic. We get a personal attack from Senator Colbeck when he should be talking about the jobs of workers at Qantas and trying to defend the government's decision about Qantas. I know why he has done what he has done. It is because the decision is absolutely indefensible. Surely you could have done better than that performance, Senator Colbeck?

When you repeal the Qantas Sale Act, you repeal the position of the maintenance of airlines in this country. You destroy the jobs of skilled maintenance workers in this country. We have over 6,000 skilled personnel in the Qantas engineering and maintenance area. The reality is that as soon as that sales act is lifted the engineering and maintenance of Qantas planes will be in Singapore, Hong Kong or elsewhere. They will not be here. They will be there because this government is not prepared to recognise the importance of a strong engineering and maintenance base for the airline industry in this country.

I heard some of the coalition senators talk about having to be competitive—'Just be competitive and everything will be okay.' Qantas said they established their maintenance facility back in 1920. There are 6,000 personnel employed now and over 300 apprentices. It is one of the biggest employers of apprentices in this country—and what did the coalition do? They just wiped them off the face of employment in this country, because they have no strategy for jobs in this country. Qantas say that their engineering standards are world-class, that their safety, quality, reliability and service is world-class. The big issue—and we have heard it time after time from the opposition—is that they do not want unionised workers and they do not want unionised workers earning a decent quid. They would sacrifice the maintenance jobs for the airline industry in this country on the altar of their ideology. There is absolutely no doubt about it. If another organised union shop bites the dust because the government is not prepared to help an icon company, so be it. Six thousand jobs could go to Singapore or Hong Kong—it will not matter; the opportunities for young Australians in the airline industry will be gone.

This is because this government have no idea about the reality of global trade and the global economy. They talk about everything as if it is simply some theoretical economic debate based on the economic philosophies of some right-wing ideologue from centuries ago. That is where they are at.

Let's look at the reality that Qantas is facing in the engineering and maintenance area. Advertised on the Careerjet website today were positions for an airstream technician and an engine technician. The salary was from $2,200 to $2,500 per month. That is the reality of global competition. What do the coalition say? They say, 'You need to match that $2,200 a month.' It is less than the minimum wage in Australia. A skilled technician in Singapore and Hong Kong is earning less than the minimum wage in Australia.

We have an airline that is so important to this country and our future, and they are going to let it go. (Time expired)