Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That sort of introduction does put a bit of pressure on me! It is a great opportunity to speak on this legislation, the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2013 and, particularly, to follow two Queensland speakers. I also acknowledge the contribution of the member for Wright, who is in the chamber, in the 43rd Parliament to this debate; I know that he feels strongly about it. I feel equally strongly. I spoke against his private member's motion then and I have not changed my views—sorry to disappoint the member for Fisher! I do so again by giving first some broad information and then some empirical data.

First off, I have always seen the Labor Party, this side of the chamber, as being the political arm of the trade union movement. That is my position. In fact, just for the member for Wright's edification, if you stand for election in the Labor Party, it is actually a requirement that you be a member of your relevant union, or organisation if you are a business person. That is why it is no surprise to look through our CVs and see that we are members of unions and that many of us have worked for unions. It is actually a requirement.

I am a member of three unions. I used to work for the Independent Education Union, the union that looks after Catholic schools—Trinity Grammar and all sorts of private schools; little Christian schools; schools in my electorate like the Murri School, which focuses on Indigenous education; or Southside Education Centre, which has a creche because they mainly educate young girls who have babies, which certainly makes for an interesting year 12 graduation. So the Independent Education Union covers a range of schools, from the wealthiest to the poorest, in the non-government sector. I am also a member of two other unions, United Voice and the AMWU. So I do know a little bit about unions, and I did work for one for about four or five years.

I had a yarn, before I came in to speak today, with my former boss, Terry Burke, the Queensland general secretary of the Independent Education Union because, as the two Queensland members here know, Campbell Newman has brought in not dissimilar legislation in Queensland already. So I wanted to hear about the union's lived experience of such legislation—and they talk to employer groups, who have similar requirements—to find out just what this will mean.

I will tell you what it does mean. It means greater costs to individual union members and organisation members for a start. In fact, I can tell you how much it cost my union, the Independent Education Union: it meant a two per cent increase in fees to meet the compliance costs. I know, if you look at the Bills Digest or this legislation itself, there is a complete minimisation of the regulatory impost—but it will cost money. There will be more forms to fill out. Looking at the Independent Education Union, the people that make up the executive are teachers, cleaners and teacher aides, but primarily teachers, who work in non-government schools. They do not get remunerated for being on the executive. They go to seven meetings a year, and I think they get a cup of tea and a meal at that meeting. But, for that, they and their family members have to fill out a form that details all of their interests, all of their personal interests and related voting and decision-making rights—family members. So let us look at what that would mean under this legislation. If I were an executive member of the Independent Education Union, my eight-year-old son's Dollarmite account would have to go on the register of interests. My four-year-old son's Dollarmite account would have to go on the register of interests. If he opened another one, I would have to trot off and let them know that there had been a change. All the members of the Queensland Independent Education Union's executive have had to fill out these forms—that is part of the onerous legislation before us—and all of those employer groups.

It is interesting to hear the language of those opposite, and both Queensland members who spoke before me were guilty of it. They talked about 'union bosses' and 'business leaders'. Now, I was an English teacher; I know how powerful language is. The fundamental philosophy of those opposite is that there is something wrong with unions. Why don't you give me a big, long list of all the outcomes for workers that have come from that side of the chamber or spontaneously from employers over the last 110 years? I can give you a list now, if you want. It will look like a blank sheet of paper. It will be a blank sheet of paper, because the reality is—

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