‘Smirking’ ScoMo ad a ‘new low’

But the construction union and the Electrical Trades Union have declared the ad will not be pulled and say Christian Porter’s reaction is “sanctimonious drivel”.The organisations are lobbying crossbench senators to reject the Morrison government’s industrial relations omnibus bill, which they say will leave workers with less pay and worse working conditions.They say the new laws will lock workers into an eight-year wage freeze.“Australian workers have been doing it tough recently,” the ad says, panning across a group of professionals in office attire and hi-vis before being run over by a bus driven by the Prime Minister.

Emblazoned on the side of the menacing looking bus is “IR Omnibus Bill”, with a smirking Mr Morrison sitting behind the wheel.“Now, Scott Morrison is using this crisis as an excuse to roll a whole bunch of new workplace laws together into one big omnibus bill,” a voice in the ad says.“It will leave Australian workers with lower wages, less power and worse conditions than ever. The omnibus bill will hurt Australians,” the voice continues as the bus ploughs into the group of workers.

Mr Porter, who also serves as the industrial relations minister, said the claims were “lies” and “wrong” and the symbolic substance of the ad was insensitive to Australians who had lost family members in road accidents.He said it was the “most disgusting piece of advertising I’ve seen”.“You don’t need to do this,” Mr Porter told 2GB on Monday morning.“It’s just shamefully insensitive to people who have been through road traumas. It should be pulled.“It crosses a massive line.”But the unions released a sharp clapback to what they claim was “sanctimonious drivel” from Mr Porter considering his coalition government’s list of recent scandals.“The Liberals are not offended by sports rorts, by robodebt, leaving thousands of Australians stranded overseas, or by an omnibus bill that will leave workers worse off,” the CFMEU and ETU said in a joint statement to NCA NewsWire.“But they pretend to be offended by an ad that calls out their anti-worker agenda. That tells us exactly where their priorities lie.”

CFMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan said workers had been exposed to inconsistent employment during the coronavirus crisis, and now they’d be “smashed by Morrison’s omnibus laws”.“These laws are not what Australian workers need,” he said as part of the launch for the new campaign. “They are not what our economy needs to rebuild. Scott Morrison is simply taking advantage of the pandemic emergency to do the bidding of the big business lobbyists who dictate Coalition policy.”Mr Noonan called on crossbench senators to vote against the bill.“Morrison may think he can just reach into the bottom drawer and dust off the WorkChoices folder for another go, but our unions won’t stand by while employers are handed more power to attack workers’ rights,” he said.The CFMEU has been contacted to respond to Mr Porter’s claims.