Source:
Govt on back foot over Abbott video - SBS World News Australia
Quote:
Prime Minister John Howard has again been forced to defend Tony Abbott after the gaffe-prone health minister admitted workers were worse off under Work Choices.
Mr Abbott claims his comments were taken out of context after the Labor Party released a video which shows him saying workers have lost protections under the coalition's industrial relations reforms.
The amateur footage shows him talking about the government's unpopular workplace reforms at a local electorate function earlier this week.
Caught on film
Mr Abbott is seen saying: "I accept that certain protections, in inverted commas, are not what they were.
"I accept that that has largely gone. I accept that."
In an audio file of the speech, released by his office, the comments appear accurate.
But Mr Abbott accused Labor of doctoring the video and says his comments were taken out of context.
'Another job is best protection'
During the speech, he goes on to say that the best protection for a worker who felt they were under pressure in their job was the chance of another job.
"That is the best protection," he told the audience.
"Not going off to some judge or industrial commission that might order your employer, who you don't like and he doesn't like you, to keep you in an unhappy partnership forever."
Mr Abbott maintained he has been the victim of a cut-and-paste job.
Claims 'outrageous'
"I have been outrageously verballed by the Australian Labor Party," Mr Abbott told AAP.
"The footage that they released ... last night was a cut-and-paste job which completely distorts what I said."
The controversy marked another bad day for the coalition as it sought to turn around its fortunes in the last week before voters go to the polls.
Regional rorts scandal
Mr Howard, campaigning in Adelaide, was unavailable to the media for much of the day following the release of a damning report into the $400 million regional rorts scandal.
The report is highly critical of the administration of the Regional Partnerships Program and says ministers often ignored public servants' advice when awarding grants to coalition electorates.
The workplace bungle and the regional rorts drama weren't the only problems with which Mr Howard had to contend.
When he finally faced reporters, Mr Howard defended the regional grants program and backed Mr Abbott, who found himself in hot water a fortnight ago after turning up late for a debate and criticising dying asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton.
'Jobs created'
"What he simply said was you no longer have to endure the unreasonable intervention of the industrial relations commission in the operation of the businesses and as a result more jobs have been created," Mr Howard told reporters.
"Tony Abbott did not say that protection had been taken away from workers."
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd told reporters that Mr Abbott's comments were black and white.
"It's pretty black and white to people who have actually seen Mr Abbott's lips move on television that that's what he said - that he accepted that certain industrial relations protections had been removed," he said.
"That's what he's saying out of his own lips."
Source: AAP
|
Here a link to the video of what Tony Abbott said (sorry, the embed didn't work), which is completely unedited and aired on Lateline last night.
YouTube - Tony Abbott on Workplace Relations
Honestly, i do not believe that his words were taken out of context. He admits that protections have gone and that the only protection the worker has is the chance of a better job. But, if we were unhappy with our employer under the old IR laws, one could still get a new job and not have to be burdened with the 'unhappy partnership'. I don't see how we have this new protection when it was there beforehand anyway.
Linear Mode
