WORKCHOICES

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Minister, as you know, I have had some experience in both the retail and hospitality industries so I would be interested to know whether there has been any recent information regarding the impact of WorkChoices on workers in these industries.

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Finance, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:00): I thank the member for her question. I know she has a passionate interest in this area. The independent report into WorkChoices conducted by the South Australian Industrial Relations Commission found that under the federal government's industrial relations laws there was a heightened sense of insecurity and disempowerment, compounded by loss of other protections to employment conditions.

The Prime Minister came out attacking this independent report, stating that it contained no evidence to support the conclusions that it made. But I can inform the house of yet another independent report backing up the findings made by our own state Industrial Relations Commission. Research conducted by the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate into two of our biggest industries (retail and hospitality) has found that 80 per cent of hospitality workers and 46 per cent of retail workers in Victoria had lost protection from unfair dismissal and this was causing increased levels of fear. Retail and hospitality workers have traditionally been amongst the most vulnerable workers in our community, and stripping away the right of unfair dismissal has only served to exacerbate this vulnerability.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT: It is good to hear from the member for Davenport. I know he is not a supporter of WorkChoices. The report continues to state that, not only is WorkChoices instilling fear into retail and hospitality workers, but it is also driving down wages. It must be remembered that a high percentage of workers in the retail and hospitality industries are young people with limited experience in the workforce. It is unrealistic to suggest that vulnerable young workers in these industries are in any position to bargain effectively with their employers, especially in the climate of fear created by WorkChoices.

The South Australian Industrial Relations Commission and the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate are not the only ones stating that workers are worse off under WorkChoices. Even Tony Abbott, the federal health minister (not for much longer) has also recently stated that workers have lost protections under the new industrial relations regime. It is clear from the growing mountain of evidence that working families are suffering under John Howard's WorkChoices, but, thankfully, they do not have to wait much longer.