Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Fair Work Bill 2008, which replaces the Howard government’s Work Choices legislation, which divided Australians, cut their pay and conditions, restricted their right to collective bargaining, froze their right to workplace representation and gutted the independent umpire. I note that the opposition has indicated that it is not opposing the bill, although I must say I have been listening to the debate today in the chamber and the level of Henny Penny cries of disaster about to fall on our heads in the speeches of all of those on the other side, who have indicated they are proposing to not oppose the bill, has been interesting. I notice a common theme is their concern about unemployment and their belief that the provisions of this bill may in fact increase unemployment. I simply say to them that, when it comes to the point in this country when fairness is a barrier to creating employment, I think we need to have a good, close look at ourselves. Fairness and balance in the workplace are not a barrier and should not be a barrier to creating employment.

The other issue that has been raised by speakers on the other side is the mandate that this government has from an election where, quite clearly, the workplace relations framework of this country was a major issue. There has been the recognition that we do indeed have a mandate to introduce this legislation, although many of them have then gone into some detail about aspects of this bill that they believe we do not have a mandate to implement. I simply say to those who have raised that point: where was the mandate for Work Choices? Not once did the former government take the Work Choices legislation that they proposed to introduce into this House and this country to the people.

Whilst it is quite right that the opposition will be looking to the Senate committee process to propose, as I understand, some amendments that they believe may improve the quality of the bill, I remind them that in fact they are privileged to have the opportunity to speak on this bill, because several people on this side of the House who were in opposition at the time—me included—were gagged on several occasions and did not even have the opportunity to address the bills before the House. Indeed, the Senate committee itself had the grand allocation of 24 hours to consider the previous legislation under the Howard government!

So I say to those opposite that I understand that there is a fundamental ideological difference between us about what constitutes fairness and balance. It is a debate that we have engaged in vigorously over the last 10 years, since the original 1996 bill of the former government, and it has been the topic of much debate in the community. In the election last year the community indicated where it, by and large in the vast majority, stood on the position of fairness and balance in our industrial relations system. I encourage those opposite to desist from the Henny Penny cries that the sky will fall in and the scaremongering around this bill and to encourage both employees and employers to see that applying fairness and balance to their workplace relationship will not be a barrier to employment and indeed should encourage employment. I think the vast majority of workers and their employers want that and understand that. It was their good common sense that created the support of the arguments that we were putting on this side of the House about a structure that would reflect fairness and balance.

I note that the editorial published in my local newspaper, the Illawarra Mercury, on 26 November 2008 had a bit of a run in this place over the last week or so. It summed up the feeling of people in our area regarding the Work Choices legislation very, very well. The editorial said:

Introduced by the Howard Government, it was loathed by workers, tilted in favour of the boss, drew thousands of complaints and resulted in hundreds of investigations into allegations of unfair, illegal and inappropriate working conditions.

In short it was a disaster and the death knell to the Howard years.

That is the voice of our local paper, reflecting the views of local people in my area. As a result, since coming to office, our government has dismantled Work Choices. On 28 March this year, the first piece of legislation introduced into this House under the new government abolished Australian workplace agreements. The government also introduced a real, genuine no-disadvantage test. This test ensures that no workplace agreement can disadvantage an employee. On 16 June this year the government released 10 national employment standards, which contain the minimum conditions every employee in Australia is entitled to receive. These include: maximum weekly hours of work, requests for flexible working arrangements, parental leave, annual leave, passionate and carers leave, community service leave, long service leave, public holidays, notice of termination and redundancy, and provision of a fair work statement.

The government has started the process of modernising and streamlining thousands of awards by focusing them on the basis of industry or occupation. These new, modern awards may also include up to an additional 10 minimum conditions of employment tailored to meet the needs of that particular industry or occupation. These industrial relations reforms and those included in this bill before us today usher in a modern national industrial relations system. These reforms are based on the principles which have always been the foundation of Australian industrial relations: balance and fairness. They were the principles that were violated by the Howard government and the Work Choices legislation.

The bill has been the subject of long and detailed consultations both before the election when we were formulating our policy position and in the actual drafting of the bill. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations has consulted widely with employers, employees, trade unions and state and territory governments. I also recognise the contribution of many of my colleagues in this House, including the member for Charlton, who have played an important part in contributing to the development of this bill and also over the longer term through the Your Rights at Work campaign. I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the local Your Rights at Work campaign organised by the South Coast Labour Council and its secretary in my own area, Arthur Rorris. On 30 November 2006, to show the level of concern that there was about the Work Choices bill, 7,000 local people marched in Wollongong in opposition to that legislation. This is a comprehensive bill covered in 600 pages. Work Choices was 1,500 pages of red tape and confusion that I know many employers in my local area struggled to understand and get their head around at the time. Even the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in their media release dated 25 November 2008 said that ‘government consultation has made the bill easier to navigate’.

The bill has six chapters, including the objects and definitions, obviously; the terms and conditions of employment; the rights and responsibilities of employers, employees and organisations; compliance and enforcement; administration; and other minor matters. I am very pleased that this bill introduces fair and comprehensive employment conditions that cannot be stripped away. Awards will provide for an additional 10 conditions above the National Employment Standards to be determined by Fair Work Australia on the basis of industry or occupation. The key to the provisions in this bill is that workplace agreements must leave every employee better off overall than the applicable award. Every employee in Australia now has a concrete legislative foundation upon which their conditions of employment are guaranteed. No employer can strip away any of those 10 national employment standards. I am pleased the bill contains new, effective transfer of business provisions to ensure agreements cannot be evaded by employers leaving employees high and dry, a situation I saw on a couple of occasions in my own area. Awards will be reviewed every four years and annual wage adjustments will be based on criteria balancing economic and social factors. Common-law contracts, as they have always existed in Australia, can be agreed between employer and employee; however, the terms and conditions of these must be above and beyond the 10 national employment standards and applicable award.

I am pleased that the bill provides a new framework for fair enterprise bargaining. The Labor government pioneered enterprise bargaining in the early 1990s and those reforms led to increased productivity in workplaces and across industries and increased employment in Australia. The attack on collective enterprise bargaining by the Howard government since 1996 saw productivity in workplaces and across industry decline. Collective bargaining will be the focus of enterprise bargaining under this Fair Work Bill. The new framework includes the introduction of good faith bargaining. There will be less regulation of the content of agreements. There is no distinction between union and non-union agreements and the approval of agreements will be streamlined. I welcome those provisions of good faith bargaining. It takes place already in workplaces around the country and this bill legislates a fairly common practice.

Good faith bargaining will apply to all parties in this bill. If an employer refuses to bargain with their employees, Fair Work Australia will have the power to test support amongst the employees to which the workplace agreement will apply. If a majority of employees wish to bargain collectively, the employer will be required to bargain with them. Fair Work Australia can make orders on bargaining only relating to procedural issues. It will be unable to make orders on the content of agreements. These procedural orders relate to, for example, attending and participating in meetings, disclosing relevant information in a timely manner, responding to proposals made by the other party in a timely manner, providing reasons for responses to proposals advanced by the other party, and refraining from conduct which undermines freedom of association or collective bargaining. It is important to note that good faith bargaining does not and will not require any party to bargaining to make concessions or to sign an agreement where they do not agree with the terms of the agreement. The bill provides a new scheme for bargaining for low-paid employees. Many employees, and predominantly women, in industries such as child care, hospitality, community work and cleaning struggle to effectively bargain with employers. They have been locked out of the collective bargaining system to an unfair degree.

Fair Work Australia will facilitate the making of agreements and play a direct role in the bargaining process. However, Fair Work Australia must also consider how productivity in the business may be improved and the need to maintain the competitiveness of the employer. The bill provides a balanced approach to the right of employees to meet with their union and the right of their employer to conduct business without interference. The bill allows members of a union that is eligible to represent their industrial interests to meet with the union at the workplace during non-working hours to hold discussions with members. The union must comply with any requests by the employer to meet in a particular room or area as long as the employer’s request is reasonable. Right of entry comes with strict obligations, including holding a valid right of entry permit, the giving of notice and other requirements of conduct while on the site.

The bill introduces new qualifying periods for unfair dismissal claims: 12 months for employees of a business with fewer than 15 employees and six months for employees of businesses with 15 or more employees. The process of dealing with unfair dismissal claims is also streamlined. It is important to acknowledge that unfair dismissal in the small business area will have a code of conduct established that is simpler and straightforward but balances the right of people not to be unreasonably sacked and without recourse.

I indicate that this bill contrasts starkly with the Howard government’s Work Choices legislation. The Work Choices safety net took away the right to collective bargaining, marginalised freedom of association, made it acceptable to unfairly dismiss workers, gutted the powers and responsibilities of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and allowed workers’ pay and conditions to be cut by AWAs. Millions of Australians at the last election rejected this approach. This bill provides the things that they called for. This bill provides fairness and balance back into the Australian industrial relations system.

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