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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-20 Daily Xml
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WORKCHOICES

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Has any new evidence come to the minister's attention about the likely effect of WorkChoices on South Australia's working families?

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Finance, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:02): I thank the member for her question; I know she has a passionate interest in this particular topic. Monash University has recently released an extremely important report about WorkChoices. The university report makes it clear that WorkChoices is hurting working families, including South Australian working families.

The report found that WorkChoices is unbalanced. It states that in at least 15 ways WorkChoices has shifted the balance of bargaining power away from employees. The Howard government has claimed that the so-called fairness test has fixed any problems with WorkChoices. This is what the Monash University report had to say:

Contrary to the government's assertions, the Fairness Test is not, by any measure, stronger than the former 'no disadvantage test'...Overall, there must be considerable doubt that the Fairness Test will provide outcomes that are procedurally or substantively fair for employees.

One of the most damning findings made by Monash University, which makes a mockery of the Howard government claim that WorkChoices is all about tailoring agreements to individual circumstances, is that there is 'very little genuine bargaining taking place', and the reason stated for that situation is that, under WorkChoices, employers can simply impose template agreements. The report also refers to provisions in WorkChoices agreements that fall below the 'safety net', or which mislead employees about their legal entitlements.

One of the most concerning elements of WorkChoices dealt with by the report, despite all the Howard government claims, is 'starving out employees by holding back pay rises until the employees enter into AWAs'. The evidence that WorkChoices is bad for working families is overwhelming. The Monash University report's last finding is that, if WorkChoices remains, 'it is inevitable that the working conditions of vulnerable employees will be further diminished.' WorkChoices is hurting South Australia's working families and has gone too far.

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