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Tony Abbott says companies that allow staff to work on Australia Day should be more concerned with providing better goods and services and paying employees higher wages than “politically correct stances”.
Australia’s 28th Prime Minister spoke about the divisive issue with Institute of Public Affairs Deputy CEO Daniel Wild on the think tank podcast.
The date of Australia Day, January 26, has been controversial for several years, as it is the day in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived in the country and Sir Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Sydney Cove.
Many see the date as representative of the start of the painful and devastating impact of colonization on Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders.
A growing number of companies are allowing their staff to choose to work on Australia Day, but Abbott believes bosses need to focus on their role.
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott (pictured) criticized companies that choose to let their staff work in Australia, saying they should focus more on offering better pay.
“I simply believe that it is a politically correct stance on the part of companies that would be better advised to focus on providing better goods and services, offering more effective competition, offering lower prices to customers, and offering higher wages to their staff. “, he said on the IPA podcast.
“I think that’s what businesses should be doing. It should focus on its job, which is to provide reasonably priced, high-quality goods and services to its customers, and to do the right thing by its customers, staff and shareholders.’
The former prime minister said companies were not in a position to “question our political leaders” and “make grandiose and radical cultural statements.”
He stressed that companies and organizations were “virtuous signs” on issues in which they have no “experience.”
I’m disappointed by that. I guess in a free country it shouldn’t stop, but I wish more people would think better of it,” he said.
Abbott has previously defended how far Australia has come as a multicultural society, saying January 26 was the most appropriate day for everyone to celebrate.
He then heavily criticized the people who wanted to change the date, suggesting that they had an agenda that went far beyond simply protesting Australia Day.
I am in favor of keeping the date. I think that people who want to change the date are not overly sensitive to the anxieties of some indigenous peoples,’ he said.
“I think that, in general, his biggest project is not to change the date but to change the country. I think they want to change the country for the worse.
Mr Abbott said that 26 January was the most appropriate date for the country to come together and celebrate and that those who wanted to change the date were changing the country for the “worse” (pictured, Australia Day celebrations in Gold Coast)
Many see the date as representative of the start of the painful impact colonization has had on Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders (Australia Day protest pictured)
It comes as Telstra’s new chief executive, Vicki Brady, publicly announced that she would be working on Australia Day on Monday.
She confirmed she would be working that day in a LinkedIn post while defending Telstra’s decision to allow staff a ‘personal’ choice on whether or not to work.
“I am proud that at Telstra, our people can now choose to take January 26 as a public holiday, or work on that day and request an alternative day off,” she wrote.
“I will choose to work and take a different day of leave with my family, because that’s okay with me.”
The head of telecoms stressed that it was “fine” if other staff members had a “different approach”.
“How we each recognize and respect the different meanings and complexities of Australia Day is an important part of our reconciliation journey,” he continued.
Telstra’s new CEO, Vicki Brady (pictured), publicly announced that she will be working on Australia Day as more companies move away from the controversial date.
“For many First Nations peoples, Australia Day is a painful reminder of discrimination and exclusion. It marks a tipping point where lives were lost, culture devalued, and connections between people and places destroyed.
“At the same time, for many people the day is also an opportunity to spend time with friends and family and celebrate the many things we can be proud of as a community.”
Ms Brady added that “respectful and inclusive talks” were needed to move reconciliation forward.
He then thanked his Telstra colleagues for treating the Australia Day debate with respect.
Telstra along with Channel 10, Woolworths, mining giant BHP, financial firms Deloitte and KPMG and biotech company CSL have joined the growing list of companies and organizations that will allow staff to work on January 26.