[Greens-Media] IR under Howard: a race to the bottom

[Ludlam, Scott (Sen R. Siewert)]

Senator Rachel Siewert
Australian Greens Senator for WA

MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday, 24 August 2005

IR under Howard: a race to the bottom
Bit by bit the Government is revealing the real reasons behind its
radical Industrial Relations agenda, and recent comments on radio 2GB by
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane show that workers will be treated as
collateral damage. 
In revealing the Government's intention to drive wage cuts of around 20%
to bring Australian workers in line with New Zealand, the Minister
foreshadows a race to the bottom in which Australians are forced to
compete with the low-wage countries of south and east Asia.
Greens Industrial Relations spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert pointed
out research showing that the economic policies of New Zealand in the
1980s did significant damage to the economy and were later repealed by
the Labour Government. 
The study by Paul Dalziel in the 'Review of Political Economy' showed
that:
		"(1) New Zealand sacrificed a large volume of real per
capita gross domestic product after 1987; (2) its average unemployment
rate increased substantially after 1988; (3) labour productivity growth
declined after 1992; and (4) the per capita real income of low-income
households in 1996 was more than 3% lower in absolute terms than it had
been in 1984."

		New Zealand's Economic Reforms: an assessment:
http://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/revpoe/v14y2002i1p31-46.html



"If Minister Macfarlane is presenting New Zealand as the poster child
for IR reform, he needs to ask himself why it's taken the country 20
years to recover from the ideologically driven attacks on employees
launched by NZ conservatives in the 1980s," Ms Siewert said. 
"The Greens are working toward an economy in which workers are fairly
rewarded for their labour,' Senator Siewert said. 'Australia can do so
much better than what this Government is serving up.'
		For more information or comment call Chris Twomey on
0407 725 025
Email senator.siewert at aph.gov.au  |  http://www.rachelsiewert.org.au