Kerry Bartlett (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

What worries me about the opposition’s proposed amendments and indeed their industrial relations policy generally—that is, if you can come to grips with what they actually stand for at the moment because there have been so many changes—is that their position is a threat to the jobs growth and the extraordinarily low levels of unemployment that we have had over the past few years. Ten years ago when we introduced the first round of our industrial relations changes, Labor said that it would lead to mass unemployment. What we have had in fact over the last 10 years is the generation of two million jobs. We have the lowest unemployment in 33 years and unemployment is down to 4.4 per cent.

What Labor are proposing will threaten the high level of jobs growth and return Australia to higher levels of unemployment. There are two areas that worry me about Labor’s position. Firstly, Labor’s threat to restore pattern bargaining—it is in their industrial relations policy. Despite their obfuscation and denials, Labor’s return to pattern bargaining will be a problem. It is in their industrial relations policy on pages 13 and 14:

... multi employer collective bargaining for low paid employees ...

It says that Labor recognises that employers and employees or unions may also want to negotiate consistent terms and conditions across an industry—I could go and on. The return to pattern bargaining will undermine the ability in a full labour market to generate productivity growth and wages growth in those industries that are not experiencing growth without adding to inflationary pressures across the economy.

One of the features of the flexibility that AWAs have introduced and allowed has been that individual businesses that are generating productivity rises can afford high pay rises without this affecting industries that are not experiencing high productivity rises. By reintroducing pattern bargaining, Labor would put pressure right across an industry and on low-productivity businesses, those businesses that are struggling, to replicate the pay rises in businesses where productivity gains are being achieved. Business therefore can only respond in one of two ways. Firstly, they would put off workers, leading to unemployment, because they cannot pay the higher wages that another business can afford to pay, or, secondly, they would have to put their prices up to cover the higher pay that they cannot afford; therefore, inflation rises. We have had this in times past: in a tight labour market and an over-regulated labour market, prices rise. Therefore, there is upward pressure on interest rates and there is a slowdown in economic growth and higher unemployment. Labor’s desire to return to a pattern bargaining regime in a tight labour market will inevitably lead to higher prices, inflation, higher interest rates, and higher unemployment.

The second aspect of Labor’s policy that will threaten jobs growth is their intention to restore the unfair dismissal laws—those unfair dismissal laws that cost jobs. Every member of this House, even those on the other side in their candid moments, know many small businesses in their electorates that have been willing to put on workers over the last year because they are no longer afraid of being taken to the cleaners due to Labor’s job-destroying unfair dismissal laws. I could quote example after example from my electorate of employers who are now putting on employees—not only are they putting on employees, they are putting employees into permanent jobs. They no longer have to protect themselves with casual employment so that they can dismiss an unsuitable, unsatisfactory or unproductive employee or a troublemaking employee. They are giving them permanent jobs because they are no longer worried about the unfair dismissal laws. Labor’s intention to restore the unfair dismissal laws will discourage small businesses from giving employees full-time jobs and taking on apprentices, and will lead to a casualisation of the labour force. The runs are on the board. This government have been delivering jobs growth right across the board. Labor’s proposals will threaten that jobs growth and we will see a rise in unemployment. That is the last thing that people in this country want.

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