Ms JULIE BISHOP (2:17 PM) —My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister guarantee that no worker will be worse off as a result of the introduction of the 10 National Employment Standards?

Mr RUDD (Prime Minister) —Mr Speaker, I tell you what we will not be guaranteeing, and that is that interest rates will be kept at ‘record lows’. We will not be guaranteeing that interest rates will be kept at record lows—like the party opposite did, delivering us 10 interest rate rises in a row. We are not in the business of making those sorts of irresponsible guarantees. What we can guarantee is a fair and flexible industrial relations system of which the government is proud. Those opposite stand condemned for an unfair system which stripped basic conditions away from workers. Those opposite should hang their heads in shame over the system they implemented and presided over.