Morrison leaves workers worse off

Like gender issues, integrity, unaffordable housing and climate change, industrial relations and the long wage freeze are topics Scott Morrison would prefer to avoid (John Hewson, “Industrial noise”, April 30–May 6). But his government’s calculated neglect is felt in the lived experience of workers. For almost a decade, it has demonised unions, fragmented and casualised the workforce, fought against benefits and supported below-inflation wage increases. It has stacked arbitration bodies with governmentappointed, profit-driven employer representatives. Exploitation and wage theft are rampant as is the ill-treatment of people on temporary and student visas. Morrison’s avoidance of the issue is driven by a visceral fear that the lucrative gravy train is derailing. As the last days of this rotten empire rumble to a close, he constantly should be reminded about the inequalities his cruel government have perpetuated.

– Alison Stewart, Riverview, NSW