DAVID SHOEBRIDGE MLC
MEDIA RELEASE
13 June 2011
O’Farrell’s WorkChoices: Where does Tony Abbott Stand?
With Federal unions now bringing pressure on the NSW Coalition's radical attack on industrial relations laws, it is time for the Federal Coalition to state its position. With Tony Abbott refusing to reject the NSW Coalition’s plans to slash the wages of nurses, teachers, firefighters and other public servants by nearly $2 billion, it is now clear that NSW is just the first stage in the Federal Coalition’s plan to relaunch WorkChoices.
See SMH page 1: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/
Greens NSW MP and Industrial Relations spokesperson David Shoebridge said:
"The newly-minted industrial relations laws being forced on the NSW Public Sector look like being the basis for a new federal IR system for the Coalition."
"These laws, which give direct control over wages and conditions to a single government minister, while retaining the pretense of an Industrial Relations Commission, are even more radical than John Howard's WorkChoices.
"Despite all its flaws, even under WorkChoices unions could approach the Commonwealth IRC to set minimum entitlements without being threatened with a veto by the Government.
"Under O'Farrell's new laws, all bets are off, and the Government of the day will get the power to veto wage rises, and cut back on conditions, by simply issuing a regulation."
"This is a real test for Tony Abbott, will he distance himself from the NSW Coalition's radical new IR laws or will he embrace them and risk having a fresh federal battle on industrial relations."
"If WorkChoices was dead, buried and cremated in 2007, then O'Farrell has just resurrected it, and it hasn't got any prettier in the meantime.
"A failure by Tony Abbott to reject the NSW Coalition's IR plan can only mean one thing - that this is the new IR model for the Federal Coalition."
More information: Contact David Shoebridge on 0408 113 952
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