"This is not a safety net for working Australians, but a desperate effort to break Mr Howard's fall from grace," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"This is a Clayton's safety net."

"The Bill is nothing more than a cynical attempt to change public perceptions of Work Choices. It does nothing to change the inherent unfairness at the heart of Work Choices."

"Now we have seen the details, it is clear the "fairness" test will not provide much protection at all. AWAs simply cannot be made fair by any test," said Senator Siewert.

"The problem with AWAs and any form of individual statutory agreement is that they undermine collective bargaining which is the best protection for all employees."

"Not only is the test weak to point of being meaningless, there are exceptions upon exceptions for where it can be applied," said Senator Siewert.

"With this level of complexity I question the ability of the Workplace Authority to be able to apply the test to each and every individual employee's AWA."

"We are seeing a repeat of the contemptuous way the government treated Australians and the Senate when it first introduced Work Choices. We have a Bill rushed in to parliament, inadequate time for a Senate Committee hearing, and a final vote rammed through all in around three weeks."

"The government is clearly not serious about protecting the wages and conditions of vulnerable employees. They are only interested in smoke and mirrors," concluded Senator Siewert.