Tony Abbott said the Howard Government’s extreme workplace laws ‘WorkChoices’ were good for wages, jobs and families.
Despite Australian families rejecting WorkChoices at the last election Tony Abbott has consistently defended WorkChoices and has said that he would bring back some of the worst elements of WorkChoices.
The Facts
- 1.
Tony Abbott says WorkChoices was good for wages, jobs and workers.
“The Howard Government’s industrial legislation, it was good for wages, it was good for jobs, and it was good for workers. And let’s never forget that."
SOURCE: DOORS, 19 MARCH 2008
- 2.
On the first day of the election campaign, Tony Abbott re-confirmed plans to resurrect the worst elements of WorkChoices.
Abbott and his employment spokesperson, Eric Abetz, provided further evidence of their commitment to bringing back elements of WorkChoices, confirming they would “tweak” the legislation in the meantime.
Journalist: But he says it is possible he (Tony Abbott) could make some tweaks in between now and then.
Tony Abbott: …if we want to change things we will go to Fair Work Australia, the independent umpire, to try to ensure that the existing legislation works as well as it possibly can.SOURCE: 2UE RADIO REPORT, 17 JULY 2010
Listen to Tony Abbott’s day one admission here. - 3.
Tony Abbott also showed he was still committed to WorkChoices by refusing to rule out bringing back the policy if the Coalition formed Government in a second term.
Journalist: Could WorkChoices come back after the first term?
Tony Abbott: Look, we’ve got an election to win and I am making commitments for this election...SOURCE: SBS FULL TRANSCRIPT, 17 JULY 2010: 'Tony Abbott promises to end deficit'
To view the full Tony Abbott article click here. - 4.
Tony Abbott has proved that WorkChoices isn’t as dead as he might like to say.
SOURCE: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 21 JULY 2010
The Daily Telegraph states that Tony Abbott’s promise not to change existing legislation contradicts another of his election promises, tied to $25 million worth of budget cuts.It means Mr Abbott must ditch a plank of his first election policy, or break his pledge to not make any changes to the Fair Work Act for the term of the next Parliament if elected.
The apparent policy bungle has again exposed Mr Abbott on the Coalition's most vulnerable election issue - the fear of a return to John Howard's WorkChoices which cost the Coalition the last election.
SOURCE: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 21 JULY 2010
Read the full story on Tony Abbott's work laws mess here.
- 5.
Abbott believes aspects of WorkChoices should be reinstated.
EXTRACT FROM AAP NEWS ARTICLE:
WorkChoices not dead yet, says Abbott.
While new Liberal leader Tony Abbott has maintained "the phrase Work Choices" was dead, he also believed aspects of the old legislation should be reinstated.
SOURCE: AAP, 14 DECEMBER 2009.
To view the full article 'WorkChoices not dead yet, says Abbott.' click here.
- 6.
Tony Abbott says WorkChoices was one of the Howard Government’s greatest achievements.
“Let me begin my contribution to this debate by reminding members that workplace reform was one of the greatest achievements of the Howard government”
SOURCE: HOUSE OF REPS, HANSARD, 13 AUGUST 2009
- 7.
Tony Abbott claims that WorkChoices didn’t cost the Coalition the last election.
“Let me say WorkChoices did not cost the former government the election”
SOURCE: HOUSE OF REPS, HANSARD, 13 AUGUST 2009
- 8.
Tony Abbott claims WorkChoices was good because it was improved.
“Now, it's true, Bev, that we went a little too far with that Bill whose name I will no longer even mention. We did correct that, though, when we brought back, in effect, the no disadvantage test.”
SOURCE: ABBOTT – ABC MELBOURNE, 2 DECEMBER 2009
To listen to the full program including Tony Abbott's quotes click here.
- 9.
Tony Abbott only rules out not using the phrase WorkChoices
JOURNALIST: "Just recently, when your book came out, you were flirting with, not flirting, but you weren't ruling out re-embracing WorkChoices. Is that still part of your manifesto now?"
TONY ABBOTT: "Well, the phrase WorkChoices is dead. No-one will ever mention it again, but look, we have to have a free and flexible economy."
SOURCE: PRESS CONFERENCE, 1 DECEMBER 2009; ALSO REPORTED IN SMH, 2 DECEMBER 2009
To view the full article on Tony Abbott click here.
- 10.
Tony Abbott claims that getting rid of WorkChoices hurt jobs.
“I certainly think that unemployment is heading up and one of the things which is most concerning about this Government, is that two of its signature policies, the workplace changes and the ETS, are obviously going to have a detrimental effect on jobs”
SOURCE: DOORS, 2 FEBRUARY 2009
- 11.
Tony Abbott refuses to rule out revisiting WorkChoices.
O’BRIEN: "So you do want to revisit WorkChoices?"
TONY ABBOTT: "Well, if we are going to have productive workplaces, we can never bring down the curtain on workplace reform...I think people will be readier for reform from us then than they were at the last election.”
SOURCE: 7.30 REPORT, 27 JULY 2009
To view the full transcript of what Tony Abbott said click here.
- 12.
Tony Abbott defends WorkChoices.
“WorkChoices wasn’t all bad”
SOURCE: BATTLELINES, 2009, PAGE 87
To view the full page from Tony Abbott's Battlelines click here.
- 13.
Tony Abbott Claims WorkChoices would have been good during the Global Financial Crisis
“My instinct is that Australians who were dismayed by the seeming harshness of the original WorkChoices legislation could be much less sentimental about ‘hard-won conditions' when businesses are struggling to survive and jobs are disappearing... After three decades of economic change, reform had almost become a dirty word, but tougher times will make the case for reform more, not less, persuasive.”
SOURCE: BATTLELINES, 2009, PAGE 155.
To view the full page of Tony Abbott's Battlelines click here.
- 14.
Tony Abbott was opposed to any changes to WorkChoices because he thought it couldn't be improved.
"The new government has its mandate and the new opposition has its mandate and I think we should vote for things that we think are good policy and against things that we think are bad policy. It's our judgement.”
"I don't think there's anything that they are likely to propose to the existing Workplace Relations Act that would improve it. So I think whatever they put up we should vote against it."
SOURCE: AFR, 28 NOVEMBER 2007.
To view the full article with Tony Abbott's quotes click here.
- 15.
Tony Abbott has always supported extreme workplace laws like WorkChoices.
"One of the most important Howard Government policies has been the introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements…”
SOURCE: TONY ABBOTT, SPEECH TO HR NICHOLLS SOCIETY CONFERENCE, 2001.
- 16.
Tony Abbott says WorkChoices will improve our standard of living.
“WorkChoices will also help continue the improvement in our living standards and quality of life. And that’s something worth waiting for.”
SOURCE: TONY ABBOTT– NEWSLETTER, NOVEMBER 2005.
- 17.
Tony Abbott claims WorkChoices was economically advantageous.
“There was a further round of workplace relations reform, which was a political mistake, but let us be under no illusions: it was economically advantageous.”
SOURCE: HOUSE OF REPS, HANSARD, 9 SEPTEMBER 2009
- 18.
Tony Abbott admits that workplace protections were lost under WorkChoices.
“I accept that certain protections, in inverted commas, are not what they were. That whole raft of regulation expressed in awards that sometimes ran into hundreds, even thousands of pages, I accept that that has largely gone. I accept that.”
SOURCE: ELECTORATE FUNCTION, 13 NOVEMBER 2007.
- 19.
Just a political mistake, not an economic mistake.
“WorkChoices was a political mistake, but it may not have been an economic one.”
SOURCE: BATTLELINES, 2009, PAGE 87.
To view the full page from Tony Abbott's Battlelines click here.
- 20.
Tony Abbott calls for workplace laws to be 'revisited'.
“The coalition will need to revisit workplace relations laws for the next election with higher unemployment likely to make voters more receptive, opposition front bencher Tony Abbott says.”
SOURCE: SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 27 JULY 2009.
To view the full article 'Abbott to Libs: Revisit workplace laws' click here.
- 21.
Tony Abbott refuses to rule out changing industrial laws back.
EXTRACT FROM SYDNEY MORNING HERALD ARTICLE:
New federal Liberal leader Tony Abbott has not ruled out changes to Australia’s industrial relations landscape if he wins power next election. When asked if new Liberal policy would include seeking to re-introduce aspects of the previous Howard government’s WorkChoices regime, which had been rolled back by the Kevin Rudd government, Mr Abbott said Australia needed a “free and flexible economy.”
SOURCE: SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1 DECEMBER 2009.
To view the full article 'We might change industrial laws: Abbott' click here.
- 22.
Tony Abbott says ending AWAs was a great leap backwards.
EXTRACT FROM THE AUSTRALIAN ARTICLE:
HEADLINE: End of AWA's a great leap backwards
SOURCE: THE AUSTRALIAN, 14 SEPTEMBER 2009.
To view the full article 'End of AWA's a great leap backwards' click here.
- 23.
Tony Abbott makes excuses for bad bosses.
“If we’re honest, most of us would accept that a bad boss is a little bit like a bad father or a bad husband – notwithstanding all of his faults, you find that he tends to do more good than harm. He might be a bad boss but at least he’s employing someone while he is in fact a boss.”
SOURCE: PM PROGRAM, 1 JULY 2002.
To read the full transcript click here.
- 24.
Tony Abbott says workers under pressure at work should just get another job.
“The best protection for the worker who feels he or she might be under pressure at his job is the chance of another job. The chance of a better job. That is the best protection. Not going off to some judge or industrial commission that won't order your employer, who you don't like and he doesn't like you, to keep you in an unhappy partnership forever.”
SOURCE: PM PROGRAM, 16 NOVEMBER 2007.
To read the full transcript of Tony Abbott's quotes click here.
- 25.
Tony Abbott has said he will get rid of unfair dismissal laws that protect workers in small businesses
"You know, at four elections running we had a mandate to take the unfair dismissal monkey off the back of small business and we will once more seek that mandate."
SOURCE: SPEECH, QUEENSLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, FEBRUARY 2010.
Read the full article 'Tony Abbott vows to scrap unfair dismissal laws for small business'
- 26.
Tony Abbott refuses to rule out bringing back individual work contracts.
"So WorkChoices is well and truly dead but there are some aspects, many aspects of the Howard government policies, until WorkChoices went too far, that we do need to keep."
SOURCE: AAP NEWS, 14 DECEMBER 2009
To view the full article 'WorkChoices still dead - sort of: Abbott ' click here.
- 27.
Tony Abbott claimed to be the principal draftsman of John Hewson's Fightback policy in 1993 which also proposed individual work contracts and cutting the Youth Wage to just $3 per hour.
“He [John Hewson] asked me to be the principal draftsman of the main Fightback document.”
SOURCE: BATTLELINES, 2009, PAGE 18.
To view the page of Tony Abbott's Battlelines click here.
- 28.
Download "The facts you should know about Tony Abbott & WorkChoices"
Despite Australian Families rejecting WorkChoices at the last election Mr Abbott has consistently defended WorkChoices and has said that he would bring back some of the worst elements of WorkChoices.
Download your copy of "The Facts you should know about Tony Abbott & WorkChoices" now.
Get the Newsletter 
Share the Facts
Got more Facts? 
We'd like to know. Send us an email with your facts.
Tell Us