Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

It is interesting to watch the government's lack of support for industries such as the manufacturing sector, the construction sector, the maritime sector; to see the extraordinary lack of support for those areas of work. But underneath that to and fro, I think there really should be a recognition in this House that over many, many years the union movement has done an extraordinary job in providing a way of life that in many ways Australians have now take for granted. An incredible effort over many decades went into that.

The Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2014 is a reintroduction of a previous bill with some amendments that came from the Senate legislative committee report, but there are still a number of problems with it from this side of the House. It establishes the Registered Organisations Commission and amends the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act. The Registered Organisations Commission will be headed by a registered organisations commissioner with greater investigative powers than those available to the general manager of the Fair Work Commission. It also modifies disclosure requirements to make them more onerous, no doubt, including higher penalties for civil contraventions, and it introduces criminal offences in respect of officers' duties that are modelled on but also exceed those found in the Corporations Act. So it increases the red tape burden, makes the disclosure requirements considerably more onerous and raises the penalties to a higher level than those found in the Corporations Act. While one of the rationales for this bill is to make those penalties even, it actually increases the penalties beyond those of the Corporations Act.

Registered organisations play a fundamental role in Australia's workplace relations systems, whether they be registered organisations that represent employers or employees. They also represent their members before industrial tribunals and courts and work with governments on policy matters ranging from employment issues to economic and social policy. They are incredibly important, but they are not corporations—they are elected in many cases, and appointed in some others. People in various positions are not remunerated in the same way that corporations are, and they are often volunteers, as well. They are not corporations, and to impose penalties that are higher than those for for-profit organisations is quite extraordinary, and we cannot support that.

We do support appropriate regulation for registered organisations, including properly empowered regulators and consequences for those who do not follow the rules. This side of the House is committed to ensuring financial accountability by unions and employer organisations, and that is why in 2012 we toughened the laws to improve financial transparency and disclosure by registered organisations to their members. That original law was enacted by Tony Abbott, but we strengthened that in 2012. The regulation of trade unions in Australia has never been stronger than it is now, and accountability has never been higher. The powers of the Fair Work Commission to investigate and prosecute for breaches have never been broader than they already are, and while in government we tripled penalties, which means they have never been tougher. Much of the work that the government is now trying to do was already done in 2012, and resulted in the comprehensive pursuit of wrongdoers in the HSU case and in serious criminal penalties.

The minister consistently uses the HSU matters, having often inappropriately commented on matters before the judiciary, to justify the government's changes. But they are ignoring the fact that the Registered Organisations Act already prohibits members' money from being used to favour particular candidates in internal elections or campaigns. The Registered Organisations Act already allows for criminal proceedings to be initiated where funds are stolen or obtained by fraud. It already ensures that the Fair Work Commission can share information with police as appropriate, as we saw in the HSU case, and it already provides for statutory civil penalties where a party knowingly or recklessly contravenes an order or direction made by the federal court or the Fair Work Commission under the Registered Organisations Act or the Fair Work Act.

When unions and industry representatives agree with each other that something is not a good idea, then perhaps a government should listen. Usually in government one side or the other will support you and the other will not, but in this case both sides of the argument believe that this is a bad deal. The new criminal provisions, if enacted, mean that registered organisations, employer unions and bodies are likely to have difficulty in persuading people often in a voluntary capacity, to take on official responsibilities. The AI Group states:

If the proposed criminal penalties and proposed massive financial penalties for breaches of duties are included in the RO Act, this would operate as a major disincentive to existing voluntary officers of registered organisations continuing in their roles, and would deter other people from holding office.

These are genuine concerns expressed by both unions and industry representatives, and these concerns have not been addressed by the government, in spite of the amendments that were made in this most recent version of the bill. Unions have also raised quite legitimate concerns about the impacts of the proposed laws. Usually when you have industry bodies and unions lining up together on a unity ticket against a government proposition, the government may be well served to realise that something is very wrong. That is certainly the case here.

Of all the concerns with this bill, the biggest concern is that the penalties the government seeks to impose on officers of registered organisations quite substantially exceed those that are imposed through the Corporations Act, and again, the arguments the government makes is that they are trying to make those penalties even—this bill does not do that. It fails in that, and we will not be supporting it.

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