Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Introduction

Almost three months ago the Australian people voted for change.

They voted for a change of government.

And in doing so, they voted for a change to our workplace relations laws.

Today the government begins the process of change by introducing the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008 into this parliament.

With this bill, the government delivers on key election commitments it made to the Australian people; commitments the Australian people endorsed in November.

I want to take one moment to describe just how clear those commitments were.

When the Prime Minister became Leader of the Labor Party and I became Deputy Leader in December 2006, we promised to abolish Australian workplace agreements.

In April last year, we published our workplace relations policy, Forward with Fairness, and confirmed that, if elected, we would abolish Australian workplace agreements.

In August we released our Forward with Fairness policy implementation plan, which reiterated Labor’s commitment to abolish Australian workplace agreements while setting out the sensible transitional arrangements a Rudd Labor government would adopt for implementing this key commitment. This policy made it clear that, when Labor’s workplace relations system was fully operational, there would be no AWAs and no other statutory individual employment agreements.

All last year, every member now sitting on this side of the House campaigned in electorates all over this country on our commitment to abolish Australian workplace agreements and to introduce Labor’s new system.

When the Australian people read our policy documents, or heard the Prime Minister speak, including at our campaign launch, or listened to me debate the previous Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations they were left without a doubt that central to our workplace relations policy was a commitment to rid Australia of all statutory individual employment agreements.

Labor’s policy was not unknown to the Howard government and its members. Indeed, last year the Howard government misused over $60 million of taxpayers’ money campaigning against Labor on workplace relations and against this key commitment to abolish Australian workplace agreements. Every day ministers from the Howard government used to rail in this place about how foolhardy they believed Labor’s policy to be.

But despite these attacks from the Howard government, Labor always maintained its belief this country should have a fairer, simpler and more balanced workplace relations system.

We believe all Australian employees are entitled to a safety net of 10 National Employment Standards. We believe employees earning less than $100,000 are also entitled to an extra safety net provided by modern, simple awards.

We believe that, in such a system, there is no need for AWAs or any statutory individual employment agreement. The essence of such agreements is that they override the safety net. In Labor’s view, a modernised safety net means there is no need for individual instruments which can override it. Rather, the only individual agreements that would be necessary are common-law contracts which build on the safety net but can never override it or take it away.

We believe that such a system will be fairer because employees will always have the safety net to rely on. And we believe it will be simpler because employers will no longer have AWAs or statutory individual employment agreements of another nature stuck forever in processing queues. And let’s remember that, as at 30 November last year, there were almost 150,000 agreements still waiting final assessment by the Workplace Authority, creating uncertainty and pressure for employers and employees.

And we believe such a system will be better for productivity and therefore better at fighting inflation.

Of course the Howard government, including the current Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, argued furiously against Labor’s system. They argued that Work Choices was wonderful, that it was fair even as the evidence of the rip-off of working families came to light. They argued Work Choices was a panacea for the economy, even as interest rates rose again and again.

But this debate had an end point. It was election day. The Australian people voted. The Australian people decided. They decided to endorse Labor’s policy including our policy to abolish Australian workplace agreements.

Unbelievably, the opposition, and particularly the opposition spokesperson on workplace relations, are now trying to pretend none of this happened. You would think most politicians would have an election defeat seared into their brains, not the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. 2007? She has forgotten it.

The opposition, or at least sections of it, is trying to pretend that Labor campaigned to roll back Work Choices and to have as its workplace relations policy an earlier version of the Howard government’s workplace relations laws. This charade is apparently being engaged in by the opposition, or at least sections of it, to try and justify the continuation of AWAs in the future.

But the unsolvable problem for the opposition’s tactic is this: everyone can see through its little game of make-believe.

The government did not campaign on the basis we were going back to anything.

The government campaigned on the promise we would take Australia forward with fairness without Australian workplace agreements.

This bill delivers on that promise.

If the Liberal Party opposes it in this House then their actions can only be read in one way. It is a deliberate decision to deny the Australian people what they voted for. It would be a deliberate decision by the Liberal Party to act with born-to-rule arrogance.

If the opposition uses its numbers in the Senate to unduly delay or reject this bill then that would be a deliberate choice by the Liberal Party to keep Work Choices alive. That would be a deliberate decision by the Liberal Party to treat the Australian people with contempt.

And of course the track record of the Liberal Party in the workplace relations debate is to treat the Australian people with contempt. That is what they did when they introduced Work Choices without a mandate. That’s what they did when defending day after day a system that ripped basic working conditions away from hardworking Australians. That is what they did when they misused tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money defending Work Choices. It is a truly disgraceful track record.

We all know about that disgraceful track record. The only question we are waiting for the Liberal Party to answer is whether they have learned anything from their election defeat or whether today will be another milestone in their disgraceful track record.

Part of the Liberal Party’s arrogant conduct on workplace relations was its refusal to consult or work cooperatively with those who most care about workplace relations.

The approach of the Rudd Labor government is completely different.

Transition to Forward With Fairness

The government understands that, to create our simple, fair, flexible and productive workplace relations system, we must talk with employers and employees and those who will play a role in our new workplace relations system.

We intend to avoid the uncertainty and complexity the previous government created for millions of employers and employees around the country through Work Choices.

To this day there are employers who do not know whether they fall within the federal workplace relations system; there are small businesses struggling to understand the complex rules in the hundreds of pages of workplace law bequeathed by the Liberals and there are employees who do not know why they must lose so many protections and do not know where to turn to for help.

The development and content of this bill reflects the government’s commitment to taking an open, measured and consultative approach to workplace relations reform to make sure the laws work for the people who use them.

In the less than three months since being sworn in, I have consulted with key stakeholders on the development and detail of this bill.

I have convened two meetings of the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council—a tripartite body which brings together peak employee and employer organisations. It brings together the likes of ACCI, the Australian Industry Group and the ACTU. It has a specialist subcommittee, the Committee On Industrial Legislation, and that committee discussed the government’s proposals for the transition bill, award modernisation and the National Employment Standards.

The enthusiastic and collaborative way in which all of these organisations have come together to assist the government on the development and detail of this bill has been extremely encouraging. I congratulate all employer and union representatives for their valuable contributions towards shaping this bill.

I have also met with state and territory workplace relations ministers, through the Workplace Relations Ministers Council, on both the content of this bill and to commence discussions on, among other things, the development of a uniform workplace relations system for the private sector.

I am pleased to report that the states and territories have wholeheartedly endorsed the key principles outlined in the government’s Forward with Fairness policy.

In the coming days I will also announce and chair the inaugural meetings of the government’s Business Advisory Group and, with my colleague the Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy, I will announce the details of the Small Business Working Group. The creation of these groups was another key part of the government’s election commitments and I look forward to listening to the practical feedback from business on the government’s proposed substantive workplace relations reforms.

I will be inviting members of the public to comment on the government’s exposure draft of the 10 legislated National Employment Standards, which will be released tomorrow.

This open and consultative approach is in stark contrast to the approach of the previous government to workplace relations matters and it will continue as the government moves towards introducing its more substantial workplace relations reforms later this year.

Description of the Bill

As I have indicated, this bill deals with the following matters as set out in the Forward with Fairness Policy Implementation Plan:

Australian Workplace Agreements

This bill provides that, from its commencement date, no-one will be able to make a new Australian workplace agreement. AWAs that have already been made will continue until their nominal expiry date and beyond until the parties to the AWA make a decision about how best to manage their employment arrangement. AWAs made before the commencement date must be lodged within 14 days after the commencement date.

It is the intention of the Rudd Labor government to lead by example and today I announce that on and from this date there will be no new Australian workplace agreements entered into in the Australian Public Service.

Applause from the gallery—

That is a seemingly popular announcement in Canberra!

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