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

I move:

That the House insists on disagreeing to the amendments insisted upon by the Senate.

I hate to spoil the atmosphere of the moment generated by my colleague the Minister for Resources and Energy and his opposition friend, but the Safe Work Australia Bill 2008 is an important piece of legislation and the government does insist that it be passed in its original form. It has been a long-held view of the business community in this nation that the single biggest regulatory reform they seek is to have uniform occupational health and safety laws around the country. Whether you are operating a business in Townsville, Tamworth or Traralgon, the laws would be the same. In the middle of this year the government entered into a historic intergovernmental agreement with all states and territories to achieve just that. We are on track to achieve model laws, and in May next year there will be model laws available. Central to that agreement is the creation of a new body to be called Safe Work Australia. Its composition, membership, voting structures and methods of operation were closely negotiated firstly between the Workplace Relations Ministers Council members and then at COAG itself. Not everybody got everything they wanted—such is the nature of intergovernmental discussion—but everybody was prepared to sign off on this.

The Liberal Party has insisted on seeking amendments to the legislation which are inconsistent with the intergovernmental agreement, thereby jeopardising the whole ability of this government, working with our state and territory counterparts, to ensure that we have this major agenda worked through and we achieve those uniform laws. Right across the country people are calling on the Liberal Party to get out of the way and to pass the safe work legislation in its original form. I would refer you in that regard to a media release from the Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, Ms Katie Lahey, where she said:

In the current climate businesses need every help to get on with the job. The amendments sought by the Senate jeopardise moves to make business operations and employment of workers simpler across our jurisdictions … The amendments sought by the Senate in the last sitting are inconsistent

She goes on to talk about how business has fought hard for this reform. The Business Council of Australia, representing Australia’s 100 biggest businesses, is saying clearly to the Liberal Party: ‘Get out of the way. Pass the legislation in its original form.’

They are joined by the Chief Executive of the Australian Mines and Metals Association—not an organisation without consequence in the state from which the shadow minister for workplace relations comes. Steve Knott, the chief executive, has made it absolutely clear through his media release of 10 November that they want the Safe Work Australia Bill 2008 passed without delay.

When this matter was last before the House, the shadow minister for employment and workplace relations maintained that if the Commonwealth went to the effort of checking the acceptability of these amendments with states and territories then the Commonwealth would find that they were acceptable. Well, that view from the shadow minister is not correct. The Workplace Relations Ministers Council has met. I informed them of the amendments and they have said the following things in a joint communiqué. Whilst I would indicate that the incoming Liberal minister in Western Australia did express some sympathy with the amendments moved by the shadow minister, he joined without reservation with every other minister around the country in the following statement:

Ministers highlighted that Senate amendments to the Safe Work Australia Bill 2008 were inconsistent with the historic commitment for governments to uniform national occupational health and safety laws as reflected in the intergovernmental agreement … by COAG. … Ministers noted with much concern that the amendments threatened the harmonisation of national OHS legislation, thereby delaying a significant and long overdue economic reform which would enhance OHS outcomes, reduce red tape for business and strengthen Australia’s productive capacity.

State ministers, including a Liberal minister, have spoken; the business community has spoken. We will return this bill to the Senate and we will say yet again to the Liberal Party: in these uncertain global economic times, do not jeopardise this reform.

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