Ah, Break Right, so refeshing to hear from someone with so little understanding about how the world and Australia's economies are inter-linked! One would think that every time there is a conservative Government anywhere, economies flourish, and under liberal (small "l") Governments they suffer. Which is of course historical bull$hit, as economies are far more complex than this. And if you've been holding very high debt levels over the last year or two and not trying to do anything about it, you're an idiot.
By the way, scrapping AWAs doesn't mean you can't be employed on contracts, and it doesn't mean you can't get above-award wages. A little gem on a blog recently was from an AWA supporter proudly proclaiming that he'd "been on an individual contract for years with much better conditions than the award", to which I replied that it was great that he was supporting the fact that prior to AWAs and Workchoices, there was nothing ever stopping this from happening! Silence ensued.
As ITCZ stated, AWAs are there to un-level the playing field. Their best part is how they can give the illusion of being better off by putting slightly more cash in your pocket, while stripping away large chunks of associated employment conditions which do not become obvious until later.