Senator Eric Abetz

The Deputy Prime Minister should meet with genuine real small business people instead of conducting stage managed media events around the country promoting her flawed so called ‘Modern’ awards scheme.

This week the Retail Traders Association has expressed extreme concern over the introduction of Ms Gillard’s scheme saying that some 3000 jobs could be at risk in the retail sector.

Today the horticultural industry has also weighed in, Queensland’s peak horticulture industry group Growcom, the Australian cherry growing industry and Ausveg, which alone represents 9000 Australian vegetable growers, have also expressed similar concerns. Growcom says “many growers are feeling like crash-test dummies for the new system”.

My office has been inundated with complaints and clearly the wheel’s are starting to fall off Ms Gillard’s ill-conceived ‘Modern’ awards scheme.

I call on the Minister to stop the show pony parade that she is engaging in around the country and actually stop and listen to the small business men and women of Australia who are bearing the brunt, both personally and financially of her flawed ‘Modern’ award system.

There is no doubt that small business men and women around Australia will employ less people especially part timers and casuals and do the work themselves, severely impacting on their work and family life balance.

These small business people have just as much right to a fair work and family life balance as other Australians.

It is a pity Ms Gillard seems to pay more regard to people who are members of Trade Unions than to the small business sector when it is remembered that there are more small business men and women than Trade Union members in the Australian economy.

The horticultural sector is particularly badly impacted because they rely on seasonal workers and God determines when the fruit ripens, not Ms Gillard.

Once again I call on the Minister to initiate a moratorium from prosecution of small business people who inadvertently find themselves in breach of Ms Gillard’s awards scheme simply through no fault of their own.

It is about time the Deputy Prime Minister stepped away from the glare of the television cameras and the media circus she so craves and went back to work to try and fix the mess that she has created.