Mr JOHNSON (2:45 PM) —My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Would the minister inform the House of the current levels of industrial disputes in the Australian economy?

Mr ANDREWS (Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) —I thank the honourable member for Ryan for his question. I can indicate that, because of the workplace relations reforms that this government has put in place, we have given Australia more jobs, higher wages and the lowest unemployment in a generation. We have also produced more productive and more harmonious workplaces in the country. Indeed, under the Howard government, the level of industrial disputation has fallen to the lowest level since records were kept, and that goes back to the time of Gallipoli.

However, there are exceptions to this good news, most notably in Western Australia. The rate of working days lost to industrial disputes in Western Australia has trebled since 2001. The rate of disputes in 2001 was 32 days lost per 1,000 employees. By June 2004 that had almost trebled to 121 days lost per 1,000 employees. In Western Australia in 2003 one of the worst performing industries was the construction industry, at 567 working days lost per 1,000 employees. The national all industries average is just 53. So compared to 53 for all industries across the nation, in the construction industry in Western Australia we have a disastrous situation of 567 working days lost per 1,000 employees. This is more than double what it is nationally for the construction industry throughout Australia.

In Western Australia the rate has increased year by year since 2001. In 2001 it was 226, which was bad enough, but by 2003 it had blown out to 567 working days lost. No wonder I found when I was in Perth last week meeting with major resource companies which are considering billions of dollars of investment in Western Australia which would lead to increased exports for Australia and more jobs for Australians, particularly those in Western Australia, that the companies remain concerned about the militancy, particularly in the building construction union in Western Australia. This has partly come about because of a weak state government that reversed the flexible workplace relations system that the Court government had previously put in place in Western Australia and that will not stand up to the likes of those who run the CFMEU in Western Australia. It is why this government will continue to reform workplace relations in Australia so that we can have more jobs and higher wages for all Australians.