The Fair Pay Commission has lifted the minimum wage by more than $27 a week and has destroyed the last of Labor's arguments against the Government's WorkChoices legislation.
And now the real reason Mr Beazley maintains that he would tear up the legislation is there for all to see. It is because the unions have told him to.
Labor's opposition to WorkChoices can't be out of concern for the unemployed. Since WorkChoices came in in March, 205,000 new jobs have been created.
Yet Mr Beazley said there would be mass sackings. On the contrary, there have been mass hirings.
Labor's opposition can't be out of concern for workers' wages. Under WorkChoices, real wages have continued to rise unlike the Labor years when they fell.
Last week's minimum wage increase put the final nail in the coffin for Labor's argument that the aim of WorkChoices was to cut wages.
And Labor's opposition to WorkChoices can't be out of concern for industrial harmony. Since WorkChoices came in, industrial disputes in Australia have hit their lowest on record.
No, Labor's opposition to WorkChoices has been all about doing the bidding of the unions.
Earlier on, Mr Beazley said that he would keep Australian Workplace Agreements in a modified form. The unions noisily complained, and Mr Beazley obligingly caved in and now promises to totally ban AWAs.
For 25 years I have campaigned for workplace reform. That campaign has always been about freedom and flexibility, not cutting the wages of Australians.
The only real reason Labor has to oppose WorkChoices is to support a restoration of the monopoly bargaining power of the trade union movement. That may be in the interests of union bosses, but it is plainly not in the interests of Australian workers.
[ends]