I rise this evening to speak in favour of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005. It represents the implementation of the government’s fourth-term workplace relations reform agenda as well as addressing a number of longstanding policy commitments which have been blocked in the Se... ...more
With six different workplace relations systems in Australia, 130 pieces of industrial relations law, 4,000 different awards and 30,000 different classifications, it is little wonder that the system needs reform. Workplace relations laws affect jobs, investment, productivity, competitiveness and econ... ...more
I would like to join previous speakers in discussing this matter of public importance today about child protection issues. At the outset I would say that child protection is primarily a matter for the states and territories. However, having said that, it is important that all levels of government wo... ...more
Earlier today, the majority and minority reports of the Finance and Public Administration References Committee inquiry, Matters relating to the Gallipoli Peninsula, were tabled in the Senate. As Senator Watson told the Senate, we felt compelled to table a minority report, showing that the Australian... ...more
It is somewhat hypocritical of Senator Faulkner to stand there and talk about the decisions of this government. I was a government lawyer for 20 years and I oversaw some decisions and acted for DIMIA in certain circumstances, and perhaps Senator Faulkner ought to go back and look at his own governme... ...more
In speaking on this urgency motion, I would remind the Senate that Australia is a very successful and harmonious multicultural society, fostered by successive governments over many years. In my first speech I traced my family’s journey from my father’s arrival in 1953 to the day he sat proudly to wa... ...more