Senator Eric Abetz

“The axing of Senator Evans from the Industrial Relations portfolio today by Julia Gillard and the elevation of Bill Shorten to the position as a reward for his part in the ‘faceless men’ coup that knifed Kevin Rudd in the back is a stark reminder that this is the way Labor does business,” Senator Abetz said today.

“For months I have been calling on Labor to bring forward its review into the Fair Work Act and calling for the review to be conducted by the Productivity Commission, for months Senator Evans has just sat on his hands.”

“Senator Evans promised details of the review and who would conduct it would be announced last month, but with just weeks remaining before its promised implementation we still don’t know.”

“The review needs to be as rigorous as a regulatory impact statement, a process from which the Fair Work Act was exempted.”

“Mr Shorten also needs to ensure that the new President of Fair Work Australia is not, like him, simply another trade union apparatchik.”

“The debacle which is the ‘harmonised’ Occupational Health and Safety regime should be deferred for at least 12 months.”

“Its not the Minister that’s the problem, it’s the policy and so far no one has had the ticker to stand up to the architect of the Fair Work Act, Julia Gillard, and tell her that there are problems.”

“This reshuffle does nothing to strengthen the Australian economy, reduce the cost of living pressures on Australian families and stop the boats.”

“All it does is shore up the Prime Minister’s position, but with Kevin Rudd still in the Cabinet and poisoning the Government, Labor remains divided and dysfunctional.”

“However simply rearranging the deck chairs by appointing Bill Shorten won’t fix the problem,” Senator Abetz said.