❓ Mr. Bowler's answer expresses strong disapproval of the WorkChoices legislation following the High Court decision, emphasizing its perceived moral failings and negative impact on WA workers, while vowing to protect state rights.
AnsweredQoN 866Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WORKCHOICES LEGISLATION - HIGH COURT DECISION
Can the minister inform the house of the implications of the High Court decision on the Howard government’s WorkChoices legislation? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER
Can the minister inform the house of the implications of the High Court decision on the Howard government’s WorkChoices legislation? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Joondalup for the question. If 27 March was a black day, 4 November was a sad day. Of course 27 March was the day WorkChoices was introduced. It was legalised, if we can call it that, on 14 November. However, just because those laws were legalised or made constitutional does not make them morally right. It also does not make those laws any better for Western Australian workers and their families. This was a 5-2 decision. It was not unanimous. History will record Justice Kirby and Justice Callinan as two of the last great champions for Australian workers and their families. Justice Kirby said, in part - The imperative to ensure a “fair go all round” . . . which lay at the heart of federal industrial law . . . is destroyed in a single stroke. This change has the potential to effect a significant alteration to some of the core values that have shaped the evolution of the distinctive features of the Australian Commonwealth, its economy and its society. Justice Callinan said, in part - The potential reach of the corporations power, if it is as extensive as the majority would have it, is enormous. . . . The reach of the corporations power, as validated by the majority, has the capacity to obliterate powers of the State hitherto unquestioned. Once John Howard - Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: I thank the member for Joondalup for the question. If 27 March was a black day, 4 November was a sad day. Of course 27 March was the day WorkChoices was introduced. It was legalised, if we can call it that, on 14 November. However, just because those laws were legalised or made constitutional does not make them morally right. It also does not make those laws any better for Western Australian workers and their families. This was a 5-2 decision. It was not unanimous. History will record Justice Kirby and Justice Callinan as two of the last great champions for Australian workers and their families. Justice Kirby said, in part - The imperative to ensure a “fair go all round” . . . which lay at the heart of federal industrial law . . . is destroyed in a single stroke. This change has the potential to effect a significant alteration to some of the core values that have shaped the evolution of the distinctive features of the Australian Commonwealth, its economy and its society. Justice Callinan said, in part - The potential reach of the corporations power, if it is as extensive as the majority would have it, is enormous. . . . The reach of the corporations power, as validated by the majority, has the capacity to obliterate powers of the State hitherto unquestioned. Once John Howard - Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
I thank the member for Joondalup for the question. If 27 March was a black day, 4 November was a sad day. Of course 27 March was the day WorkChoices was introduced. It was legalised, if we can call it that, on 14 November. However, just because those laws were legalised or made constitutional does not make them morally right. It also does not make those laws any better for Western Australian workers and their families. This was a 5-2 decision. It was not unanimous. History will record Justice Kirby and Justice Callinan as two of the last great champions for Australian workers and their families. Justice Kirby said, in part - The imperative to ensure a “fair go all round” . . . which lay at the heart of federal industrial law . . . is destroyed in a single stroke. This change has the potential to effect a significant alteration to some of the core values that have shaped the evolution of the distinctive features of the Australian Commonwealth, its economy and its society. Justice Callinan said, in part - The potential reach of the corporations power, if it is as extensive as the majority would have it, is enormous. . . . The reach of the corporations power, as validated by the majority, has the capacity to obliterate powers of the State hitherto unquestioned. Once John Howard - Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: I thank the member for Joondalup for the question. If 27 March was a black day, 4 November was a sad day. Of course 27 March was the day WorkChoices was introduced. It was legalised, if we can call it that, on 14 November. However, just because those laws were legalised or made constitutional does not make them morally right. It also does not make those laws any better for Western Australian workers and their families. This was a 5-2 decision. It was not unanimous. History will record Justice Kirby and Justice Callinan as two of the last great champions for Australian workers and their families. Justice Kirby said, in part - The imperative to ensure a “fair go all round” . . . which lay at the heart of federal industrial law . . . is destroyed in a single stroke. This change has the potential to effect a significant alteration to some of the core values that have shaped the evolution of the distinctive features of the Australian Commonwealth, its economy and its society. Justice Callinan said, in part - The potential reach of the corporations power, if it is as extensive as the majority would have it, is enormous. . . . The reach of the corporations power, as validated by the majority, has the capacity to obliterate powers of the State hitherto unquestioned. Once John Howard - Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
I thank the member for Joondalup for the question. If 27 March was a black day, 4 November was a sad day. Of course 27 March was the day WorkChoices was introduced. It was legalised, if we can call it that, on 14 November. However, just because those laws were legalised or made constitutional does not make them morally right. It also does not make those laws any better for Western Australian workers and their families. This was a 5-2 decision. It was not unanimous. History will record Justice Kirby and Justice Callinan as two of the last great champions for Australian workers and their families. Justice Kirby said, in part - The imperative to ensure a “fair go all round” . . . which lay at the heart of federal industrial law . . . is destroyed in a single stroke. This change has the potential to effect a significant alteration to some of the core values that have shaped the evolution of the distinctive features of the Australian Commonwealth, its economy and its society. Justice Callinan said, in part - The potential reach of the corporations power, if it is as extensive as the majority would have it, is enormous. . . . The reach of the corporations power, as validated by the majority, has the capacity to obliterate powers of the State hitherto unquestioned. Once John Howard - Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Mr J.J.M. BOWLER : Once John Howard gained the majority in the Senate, he abused that power by forcing upon the mothers and fathers, the workers of Australia, the most draconian and unfair legislation this nation has ever seen. This government will continue to fight for states’ rights for Western Australian workers to ensure that Western Australian workers do not live in fear and that they have some protection at long last.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.