Fed: Labor's IR laws will not slow productivity: Gillard

AAP General News (Australia)
04-30-2007
Fed: Labor's IR laws will not slow productivity: Gillard

CANBERRA, April 30 AAP - Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Julia Gillard
has played down big business concerns over Labor's new industrial relations policy.

Business groups around Australia have attacked Labor's new "family friendly" policy,
which includes scrapping Work Choices and Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), fearing
it will slash productivity and jobs growth.

And some business groups have now said they will promote AWAs in the lead-up to the
federal election.

Ms Gillard said there was nothing in Labor's plan that would slow productivity and
she had told business groups that Labor's plan offered them a way forward.

"If Australian business is saying to us all they're going to do is campaign for the
Howard government and Mr Howard's unfair laws then we are going to have a disagreement
with them," Ms Gillard told Sky News.

"If Australian business is saying to us they want to have high productivity workplaces
we'll be giving that the big tick and we will be ensuring, through talking to them, that
what Labor's industrial relations system delivers."

Ms Gillard said it was not rational for business to claim Australia was in a high productivity
period.

"We're not, we can do better and we can do better with laws that focus on co-operation
rather than fragmentation and division in workplaces."

AAP sld/maur/bwl

KEYWORD: WORKPLACE GILLARD

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