Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I have the author of the Work Choices legislation across the table from me who wants to interject. He is very defensive because he is responsible, along with some others, of helping bring down a government in 2007—his own government. In 2005 they told the Australian people their pay and conditions were protected by law when they were not. In 2008 the now Prime Minister said Work Choices was:

… good for wages, it was good for jobs and it was good for workers. And let’s never forget that.

In the Prime Minister's own book, Battlelines, he said, 'WorkChoices wasn't all bad.'

The government continues to beat its chest about its deregulation agenda; yet it intends with this bill and the reinstatement of the Australian Building and Construction Commission to add more layers of bureaucracy. You need look no further than the Australian Industry Group's submission to the inquiry on this bill. There, the AIG says that the disclosure regime imposes 'a significant regulatory burden'.

Contrast the coalition's hypocrisy, secrecy, uncertainty and mendacity on industrial relations with Labor's positive policies and record when we were in government. During our term in government Labor created 960,000 jobs. Productivity was up, employment was up—as I say, almost 1,000,000 jobs were created—and, indeed, industrial disputes were down. All these factors lead to improved job security and job opportunities for Australians. This is all at risk with a coalition government, which has a track record of axing workers' rights, entitlements, pay and conditions—it is in the coalition's DNA.

This bill contains too many proposed changes which require proper examination. The opposition therefore shares the reservations of others, including employee and employer organisations, and will not support this bill. Usually, when industry bodies and unions—employers and employee organisations—line up on a unity ticket against a proposition, there is something very wrong with it. This case is no different.

The opposition will not support a politically motivated witch-hunt designed to kill off unions just because this government seeks to reward its friends in big business. We want, and the public deserves, time to appropriately consider the measures in the government's bill. It is for these reasons and other reasons I have already outlined that Labor opposes the bill.

Finally, I move as a second reading amendment the following proposition:

That all the words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"the House declines to give the bill a second reading because it would be ill advised to continue having regard to:

1. the adverse impact of the creation of the Registered Organisations Commission on registered organisations, including unions, employer and employee groups; and

2. the fact that last year the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (the Act) was amended to improve disclosure requirements, transparency, accountability and amended to also triple civil penalties for breaches of the Act."

It is for these reasons that the opposition oppose this bill.

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