Abbott's war on workers

16 May, 2013 | ACTU Media Release

"Failing to commit to Gonski is a betrayal to schools and education," said Dave Oliver, ACTU Secretary.

"The commission of audit is a carbon copy of the Peter Costello report which was used by Campbell Newman to sack nurses and other public servants in Queensland. A frightening prospect for all Australians.

"We have had a glimpse of what this society will be like under a Coalition government. Workers and their superannuation savings under attack while miners enjoy a windfall.

"Not content within his existing plan to increase superannuation taxes for 3.6 million workers, the Coalition is now attacking the retirement savings of every single Australian worker. This will cost the average worker thousands in retirement.

"Given we have an ageing population, pulling money out of the super system is economic vandalism.

"Any political party that commits to pillaging from the pockets of the poor to benefit the rich is no friend of the worker. For most workers saving enough superannuation is the difference between retiring comfortably and finding themselves in financial strife, this after a lifetime of work.

“The Coalition has consistently opposed policies which stimulated the economy and have kept our unemployment rate low.

“We are concerned that a policy of austerity from a Coalition Government would cost jobs unnecessarily. Australia’s government debt is low by international standards and we have retained our triple-A credit rating.

“Mr Abbott has failed to confirm that the Coalition will support the Government’s crackdown on multinational companies using ‘thin capitalisation’ rules to reduce their tax in Australia, a measure which would  ensure extra revenue for services.”