It was with great hype that Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard introduced the Fair Work Act. In preparing for today, I took the opportunity to remind myself of some of the speeches of Labor Ministers when they introduced the Bill. The pages of Hansard are dripping with Labor ideology and war stories from their time as union bosses.
Today, many in Labor are still blinded by ideology when it comes to the Fair Work Act. But, now that we have had the chance to see how it has been implemented over the last two and a half years the ideology has to give way to an objective practical assessment. And it is plain for everyone else to see that there is significant room for improvement.
The London Olympics have come and gone. One performance that has largely gone unnoticed is the extreme green groups' prevailing over contractors constructing the Olympic facilities not to use timber products manufactured by the Ta Ann timber processor in my home state of Tasmania. It should be noted that Ta Ann does not harvest timber in Tasmania.
It uses timber harvested by others that was previously destined for the woodchipper. Ta Ann value adds by veneering these previous woodchip logs into valuable veneer for plywood production.
The single most important priority in preventing people from risking their lives on dangerous maritime voyages is to recalibrate Australian policy settings to achieve an outcome that asylum seekers will not be advantaged if they pay people smugglers to attempt dangerous irregular entry into Australia instead of pursuing regular migration pathways and international protection arrangements.
So said the government's own hand-picked panel operating under the government's own self-drafted terms of reference. A hand-picked panel and self-drafted terms of reference—and the verdict? One of the most stinging critiques ever of government policy by a panel hand-picked by government with self-drafted terms of reference.
Address to the Australian Liberal Students Federation Annual Conference 2012
University of Sydney, Sydney
Thank you very much, Christian. Its great to be back with ALSF. It reminds me of a misspent youth. It also reminds me of some very worthwhile activities that myself and some others engaged in because, you might find it surprising, that Liberal Students believed in Compulsory Student Unionism until 1977. I know thats not in your lifetime. But 1977 was when a group of us took over ALSF and might I say, since then it has always been in the hands of what we describe as solid citizens and I am sure it will continue to remain so.
‘…the wise man built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundations on the rock…
The foolish man … built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash.
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE – THE UNION BOSS WONDERLAND
ADDRESS TO THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP PIR CONFERENCE, CANBERRA
Introduction
Just imagine, getting paid to go to the gym, followed by having a relaxing massage followed by a shower. Well you won't need to imagine for much longer. Thanks to the union bosses and the Fair Work Act those days might not be that far away. So, Innes, I think you applied for the wrong job albeit I for one congratulate you and wish you well on this, your first official day on the ground.
"Where we Stand" Address to the Workplace Relations Policy Forum, Victorian Liberal Party State Council
Workplace relations in Australia has been front and centre in the media in recent months. From Craig Thomson to Asciano and from Qantas to George Calombaris – with the problems of the Fair Work Act coming to the surface.
I have no doubt that more problems will emerge in coming months.
What a pitiful contribution we have just witnessed from the Leader of the Australian Greens. He spoke about anything and everything but why he and the Australian Greens are going to contribute to this ruthless guillotining of 16 pieces of legislation. Senator Brown can talk and talk and talk as much as he likes, but he used all of his time without once seeking to justify why the democratic process of this chamber should be curtailed; why 16 bills should be guillotined and why some of those bills should be dealt with without a single word of debate being spoken. This is because, let us make no mistake, some of these bills will only have 10 minutes allocated to them.
That the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2012, as passed by the House of Representatives on 16 February 2012, be referred to the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 8 May 2012.