Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously she does not want to listen to the National Farmers Federation. The National Party might want to think about that. But the National Farmers Federation said that the government’s code is ‘striking a sensible, practical balance for employers and employees’. And the endorsements did not stop there. The Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia’s CEO, Mr Tony Steven, said about the fair dismissal code that it is providing ‘a simple checklist to follow’ and he congratulated the government on this achievement. The Australian Industry Group welcomed the ‘positive progress’ that the government has made in developing the new workplace relations laws. Here we have a Liberal Party that professes a concern about jobs—maybe it wants to listen to the organisations that represent people who create jobs and reflect on what they have said.

What we know from yesterday’s reaction to the government’s announcement on Forward with Fairness is that the government is getting rid of Work Choices and going on with Forward with Fairness. There are positive reactions from the business community to Forward with Fairness. The only people who support Work Choices in this nation are the industrial relations extremists sitting over there as members of the Liberal Party. We are asking them, despite their extremism, despite their love of Work Choices, to actually let the government get on with the job and deliver what the Australian people voted for. Business has had a positive reaction to that. It is time that the Liberal Party actually listened to the people who create jobs instead of just screaming abuse out.

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