Barnaby Joyce is threatening to veto John Howard’s IR legislation because of pressure from his state National Party colleagues. The Courier Mail quotes National Party State Leader Lawrence Springborg saying “The Nationals remain unconvinced that the legislation, in its current form, should be supported.” Opposition is apparently broadspread – “The concerns raised by MPs were not geographically constrained, but came collectively from MPs representing the Nationals’ southeast and urban electorates as well as . . . regional, rural and remote electorates.”
But yesterday morning at a Conservative Club Breakfast National Party frontbencher Vaughan Johnson was impassioned in his support for AWAs and the changes. He told the story of a young constituent who he helped to get a $70,000 entry level mining job in his electorate who now earns $180,000 p.a. because of an AWA – a higher wage than a parliamentarian, and probably with more security.
His yarn was supported by another from guest speaker, Assistant Treasurer Mal Brough, who reported that close friend of the Prime Minister, Senator Bill Heffernan, was not comfortable with the new legislation because it meant that the shearers on his NSW grazing property would be able to demand a substantial raise.
Sounds like John Howard should be inviting Vaughan, Mal and Barnaby round to Kirribilly House when he returns from overseas to wrap up the vote he needs to pass his legislation.
I’m going to send Vaughan Johnson an email to see whether he’ll reprise his sales job on this blog.