Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is my great pleasure to rise and speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Respect for Emergency Services Volunteers) Bill 2016. This is a bill to implement the government's commitment to protecting emergency service bodies and their volunteers by providing that an enterprise agreement cannot include terms that undermine the capacity of volunteer emergency services bodies to properly manage their volunteer operations or terms that are inconsistent with state or territory laws that regulate such bodies.

As we promised prior to the election, this was the very first bill introduced into this 45th Parliament. This bill honours a coalition election commitment to protecting the Victorian Country Fire Authority and other emergency service volunteers. In the case of our wonderful CFA volunteers in Victoria, these amendments to the Fair Work Act protect them from a hostile takeover by the Victorian Labor Party and Premier Daniel Andrews, working in concert with the Leader of the Opposition and federal Labor and working hand in glove with the militant United Firefighters Union.

Let's be clear: CFA volunteers in Victoria have been utterly abandoned by Labor. The extent of the misrepresentations and untruthful statements made by the member for Gorton in his contribution are a disgrace. Let me put on the record one of the worst. The Prime Minister has never made any reference at all to the fact that paid firefighters are not as important as CFA volunteers. What the Prime Minister has done—in contrast to the member for Gorton, to the Leader of the Opposition, to Daniel Andrews and to federal Labor—is stand up for CFA volunteers. We are mightily proud to do so. In Victoria there are some 60,000 volunteers, around 35,000 operational. As the member for Corangamite, one of the most fire-prone areas in the state, I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our local CFA volunteers and Corangamite's 65 CFA brigades.

We all remember Christmas Day. We all salute and acknowledge the bravery of the Wye River Fire Brigade, led by Roy Moriarty—and, of course, we know that the Prime Minister visited the sites at Wye River and Separation Creek and saw the devastation. We saw the bravery in action. From Meredith to Beeac, from Lorne to Apollo Bay, from Smythesdale to Grovedale, we have the most incredible men and women who go out every day, protecting Victorians, protecting our homes and our kids and our property. We are so proud of what we are doing to stand up for CFA volunteers.

Let me make this very clear: Premier Daniel Andrews should hang his head in shame. In contrast to his former Minister for Emergency Services, Jane Garrett, who had the strength and the good judgement to oppose some of the extreme provisions in the proposed EBA between the CFA and UFU, Daniel Andrews has acquiesced to this militant union and has not been prepared to stand up for volunteer firefighters, and he has done it hand in glove with the Leader of the Opposition and with federal Labor, including the member for Corio and the member for Gorton.

Let's not make any mistake about how damaging this proposed EBA is. For example, I will go through some of the most problematic provisions. This is why the Supreme Court has now found that there is a case to be answered as to whether it is even proper: under the proposed EBA paid firefighters can only report to another paid firefighter—except for level 3 incidents, which are around one per cent of annual incidents—sidelining volunteers and providing a potential dual command structure. That is in clause 35.4. Union agreement is required before the CFA can make a change to policy, stifling the ability for the CFA to adapt to present needs. That is in clause 41.1. Seven paid firefighters need to be dispatched before other paid firefighters can commence firefighting, meaning volunteers can be left to fight fires alone for a period, despite the sudden and swift nature of fire emergencies. That is in clause 77.5. Union agreement is required on what uniforms are worn by volunteers, and paid firefighters must have uniforms that are visually distinguishable from volunteers', diminishing the equal value and significance of volunteer firefighters. That is in schedule 20. And union agreement is required for workplace changes by the CFA, including matters that could impact on the use of volunteers such as their terms and conditions of employment. This change effectively hands control over volunteer management to the UFU. And there is no surprise that we have 50 shades of veto—all the many ways in which the UFU can veto the operations of the CFA.

These restrictions are not only ridiculous but also dangerous, as they jeopardise the CFA's ability to respond swiftly to emergencies. Many people have spoken out about the disgraceful proposed EBA and we have seen an absolute catastrophe—a huge number of people who have objected to what the Labor Party and the UFU are doing in Victoria. We know that the former Victorian emergency services minister, Jane Garrett, has resigned. She is now prosecuting a formal complaint of bullying against the UFU state secretary, Peter Marshall. The CFA chief executive and the chief fire officer have also resigned in protest, and a number of CFA volunteers have resigned. The CFA board, which staunchly opposed this EBA, was sacked by the Andrews government—none of which, of course, happened to be mentioned by the member for Gorton. And a new hand-picked board was appointed in an effort to force the CFA into submission.

The former CFA chief executive officer, Lucinda Nolan, said that this agreement—the proposed EBA:

… was not going to make the organisation a better place — it is destructive and divisive. I could not stay and oversee the destruction of the CFA.

…   …   …

I think this has the potential to negatively impact the organisation, community safety, our volunteers and our volunteer contribution.

So our bill, very proudly, will fix the sorts of skulduggery, the sideline deals and the attempts to undermine our wonderful volunteer workforce in the CFA. It will add to the definition of objectionable terms in section 12 of the Fair Work Act to prohibit objectionable emergency management terms. I will not go through all the detail because I am going to keep my comments fairly brief on this bill. The Fair Work Commission will no longer be able to approve agreements that contain these terms, and any such terms in existing agreements will be legally ineffective. It will also make sure that an enterprise agreement can no longer undermine the capacity of emergency services volunteer bodies to properly manage their operations.

The bill will also give volunteer organisations the right to make submissions to the Fair Work Commission about enterprise agreements covering certain emergency services bodies that could affect the volunteers they represent.

For a century CFA volunteers in Victoria have put the community first and now what we are seeing is the Labor Party, both here in Canberra and in Victoria, putting its union mates first and volunteers last. I am so proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with CFA volunteers. It is now time for Labor to do the same thing and to stop supporting this disastrous union power grab—to tell the truth, because that is exactly what it is. I commend this bill to the House.

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