Page 3775 - Week 12 - Thursday, 22 November 2007
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witnessed by the Western Australian mines making extraordinary profits. Interest rates have gone up six times in the past three years to counteract the spending currently happening in this country.
So what was it that prompted John Howard to introduce such radical change to the lives of working families not just here in Canberra but across the country? Perhaps the unexpected windfall of control of both houses of parliament played a role. Maybe it was to realise the long-held dream of a conservative and narrow-minded politician, suddenly confronted by the once-in-a-lifetime chance to fulfil a wish of some 30 years standing.
Certainly those who in good faith voted Liberal at the last election had no idea that by doing so they were inflicting such draconian legislation on an unsuspecting Australia, as this legislation was not mentioned before the last election. Where was the mandate for that—or are we now to believe that just having control of both houses of parliament was a substitute for a genuine mandate? What has Work Choices really achieved, apart from helping to fulfil John Howard’s dream of a union-free, totally unregulated workforce at the mercy of the powerful bosses?
All this legislation has done is to instil uncertainty and doubt about job security in the minds of thousands of workers and their families. For what purpose? Wages breakouts and industrial disputations have not been a significant problem in Australia for years. The accord in the 1980s and then the introduction of enterprise bargaining in the 1990s have ensured that workers in this country have been able to achieve reasonable wage increases consistent with both CPI and inflation—“reasonable” being the operative word here. No ordinary worker in this country, whether in the private or public sectors, has the ability to organise huge wage increases for themselves. At the most the average pay increase over time has been in the vicinity of three to four per cent.
All Work Choices has done is to create an atmosphere of fear amongst those workers, particularly in the private sector, where this legislation has had the most impact—young people and women the most impacted. Young people generally do not have either the knowledge or the ability to negotiate their own AWA which, together with the threat of not having a job if they do challenge the conditions contained, is enough to keep them silent. It is a “take it or leave it” situation; hence we see hourly rates, penalty rates and overtime slashed in industries such as hospitality where the greatest concentration of young people is found, mainly doing part-time work to supplement their living standards while studying.
Mr Howard has now said he will not take Work Choices any further. But, if that is so, what happens when Peter Costello takes over? I will quote from Mr Rudd’s launch to give you some background:
Federal Labor today launched a time line setting out Peter Costello’s 21 year crusade to impose radical industrial relations changes on all Australians.
If John Howard wins the election—and Peter Costello becomes PM without facing the voters—Prime Minister Costello will take Work Choices further.
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