Damian Hale (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I rise today to make my contribution to the debate on the Fair Work Bill 2008. This bill delivers on Labor’s promises to sweep away Work Choices and to replace it with a fair workplace relations system. This bill builds on the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008, enacted in March, which ended the making of AWAs, introduced a genuine no disadvantage test for agreements and commenced award modernisation.

This bill provides a balanced framework of workplace rights and obligations that is fair to both employees and employers. It is easier to understand in terms of structure, organisation and expression and it reduces the compliance burden on business. A key feature of the Fair Work Bill is a fair and comprehensive safety net of employment conditions that cannot be stripped away. A new framework for fair enterprise bargaining is provided that includes the following features: no individual statutory agreements; employers must bargain collectively where a majority of employees desire this; arbitration is available where parties flout good faith bargaining obligations; and agreements can deal with a much wider range of matters, including relationships between the employers and unions. Unfair dismissal rights have been reinstated. Unfair dismissal rights are now provided for the vast majority of employees, including high earners who are covered by awards and enterprise agreements. The bill also enhances protections from discrimination and of freedom of association and reinstates right of entry.

Fair Work Australia has an important role. Fair Work Australia will bring together seven existing agencies with integrated service delivery. Fair Work Australia is able to conciliate, mediate, call compulsory conferences and make recommendations on the application of one party. Fair Work Australia has an important role assisting parties with bargaining, especially in the low-paid stream, and in supervising industrial action and right of entry.

There is a clear contrast between the Fair Work Bill and the former Work Choices legislation. Work Choices allowed agreements to be slashed without the safety net. Fair Work Australia agreements cannot fall below the minimum wage at any time. Work Choices left awards to wither on the vine. Fair Work Australia reinstates awards as a fair and decent safety net of conditions, industry and occupation based. Work Choices gave no effective right to bargain collectively, whereas Fair Work Australia says employers must bargain collectively where the majority of employees desire this. Work Choices was about AWAs. Fair Work Australia states that there will be no individual statutory agreements; the focus is on collective bargaining at the enterprise. Unfair dismissal rights were slashed under Work Choices. Under Fair Work Australia, unfair dismissal rights for a vast majority of employees, including high earners, are covered by awards, with special provisions for small business employers with fewer than 15 employees. Work Choices marginalised unions. Under Fair Work Australia, agreements can deal with the relationship between the employer and the union. Work Choices rendered the independent industrial umpire powerless. Fair Work Australia will be able to conciliate, mediate, call compulsory conferences and make recommendations on the application of one party.

We must never forget the examples of what occurred under Work Choices. Here are a few examples that were tabled in the Northern Territory parliament by then Minister Paul Henderson. A young fellow was working for a contractor in the construction business and was sacked without notice. He had spent two years as an apprentice electrician, essentially working on residential construction sites, wiring power points and fans. He had talked to a mate of his who worked for one of our major mining companies in the Northern Territory. Through a series of discussions, the mining company offered him work out at the mine for four to six months to get some industrial experience as an apprentice electrician. He went to his employer and said, ‘I’d like the opportunity to spend four or six months working on a mine site to broaden my experience as I do my apprenticeship and get exposure to some different things.’ His employer accused him of being disloyal and sacked him on the spot. His mother was in tears. She could not believe that this could happen in Australia to an 18-year-old kid. Work Choices was unfair and that was un-Australian.

Another example: after two months of work an employee was sacked without notice. At the time of the termination the employer alleged that the worker had been giving away goods for free and had stolen them. No complaint was ever made to the police and the employee was never given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. That is unfair. This is a final example. After a period of six months of casual employment a worker was made permanent. Two months after being made permanent the employee’s position changed. However, no change was made to his remuneration. The worker approached the manager to complain about bullying and intimidation from other employees towards him and another group of employees of a particular ethnic background. Following this, a direction came from management that only English was to be spoken in the workplace. One day later the employee was sacked. This bill is about fairness in the workplace—that is, about being able to legitimately raise concerns with your employer without fear.

The former government was out of touch not only with workers in this country but with modern workplaces. In Solomon I have wonderful business people. They are innovative people, hardworking people and committed people. They look after their workers. I have business people in my electorate who were insulted by the Work Choices legislation, and I had one say to me that he read Work Choices and then threw it in the bin. Progressive, modern businesses work very well with progressive, modern unions and hardworking and committed workers.

I commend the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister on the work they have put into this bill. I note the presence in the chamber today of the member for Maribyrnong and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services and acknowledge his long commitment to representing working men and women. He spoke in caucus—as did other people who have been doing that for a long time—and our Fair Work Bill was very much supported as the right way to go. Furthermore, I commend my colleagues who contributed to the bill through the caucus committee process. The members for Petrie and Deakin in particular put in an enormous effort to deliver fair and just industrial reforms. That is what we on our side of the House do. We consult with all stakeholders and we negotiate, compromise and deliver. That is unlike those opposite, who failed to show adequate respect for workers, unions or business. I had a senior member of the Howard government ministry once say to me off the record that he did not know how bad AWAs were until his daughter brought one home.

In conclusion, this bill is a fair bill; it is a bill that delivers on the promises we made to the Australian people at the last election. It is a modern and progressive industrial reform package. It was done with transparency and full consultation with all stakeholders. It is a bill for all Australians. I congratulate the Your Rights at Work campaigners in Australia on their efforts. In this place we all want to make a difference. I say to those Your Rights at Work campaigners: you have. Australia must never forget the Work Choices legislation and must be reminded—and will be reminded for the next two years—that, if the Liberal Party were to regain government in two years time, Work Choices legislation would be back on the agenda. There are members opposite who continually defend it. They come into this place and they defend it at every opportunity. Some of them believe that it did not go far enough. I think the Australian public need to know that that is what they will face should they decide to reinstate a Liberal government in two years time. They would have to go back to fighting for their rights, fighting for their children’s rights and fighting for their grandchildren’s rights in the workplace. I encourage the Australian public never to give them the opportunity to do that again. I am very proud to commend the bill to the House.

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