Senator Eric Abetz

The ACTU’s latest round of expensive television advertisements attacking the Coalition’s yet to be announced workplace relations policy is a complete waste of its members’ money.

In the real world, not the fantasy world the ACTU appears to be living in, one would think that the exorbitant fees union members are forced to pay just to belong to a union might be better be used, instead of being frivolously squandered on a make believe advertising campaign.

The reality is that tens of thousands of Australian workers are worse off under Labor’s new industrial laws. Thousands of Australian workers face cuts in wages and entitlements and thousands more face the grim reality of life under Labor’s unfair laws and broken promises.

This is what individual Unions are telling their members on their own websites.

Workers in the childcare, nursing and club sectors in particular are worse off because of Labor’s new industrial laws, in direct breach of Labor’s claim that “no worker would be worse off”.

The chaos in the sector with Ms Gillard’s rigid laws is resulting in Union negotiated agreements being overturned with Ms Gillard and Labor breathlessly telling workers, unions and employers that Labor’s ideological straight jacket is more important than common sense.

Rather than dealing in fantasy the ACTU should devote its attention to the failures of the Labor Government that they bankrolled into office.

Four Australians are dead because of Labor’s disastrous home insulation scheme, 120 homes have been damaged by fire and thousands more remain at risk and whilst not wishing to detract from this absolute tragedy, I would remind you that it was Sharan Burrow who said during a previous campaign against the Coalition’s workplace reforms,“I need a mum or a dad of someone who’s been seriously injured or killed. That would be fantastic”.

This sort of appalling behaviour by the outgoing ACTU President is to be condemned.

It beggars belief that Ms Burrow is prepared to squander hundreds of thousands of dollars of union members’ funds on television advertisements attacking the Coalition’s yet to be announced policy when Labor’s policy has left dead and injured workers in its wake.

Added to this, when it comes to Labor’s new industrial laws, clearly Ms Burrow isn’t listening to the concerns of thousands of her own members including ACTU Vice President Linda White who says Labor’s award modernisation is “soul destroying”.

If the ACTU was really serious about protecting the interests of its members then it should be spending money on an advertising campaign attacking Labor for failing to do what it said it would for Australian working families and I would urge them to do so.