Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am a proud union member and I cannot possibly support this bill, the Fair Work Laws Amendment (Proper Use of Worker Benefits) Bill 2017. I am proud to be a member of the Australian Services Union and I'm also proud to be a member of the Commonwealth Public Sector Union. I am a very strong believer in the power of the collective. That is the strength of the unions' work. It has only ever been the Labor Party and the unions who have fought for equality. This government seem to want to grow inequality. They want to achieve this by attacking the only people and entities that have ever stood up against the government's mistreatment of workers. There has been attack after attack, untruth after untruth, just so the government can assist their big business mates and give them a $65 billion tax cut without pesky Labor and the unions fighting for useful things like access to free health care, access to quality education for all, workers' rights and social inclusion and equality. There has been attack after attack by the Turnbull government and, with every blow, we stand united and fight back because workers united will never be defeated.

The unions that I am a member of are fighting against some of the shocking inequality and cuts that the Turnbull government is forcing on people. The Australian Services Union has been a strong advocate for the NDIS, but, under the guidance of the coalition, the aspirations for the NDIS in assisting the most marginalised group of people have been completely lost. The ASU has been vocal against the Turnbull government and its mishandling of the NDIS, and I am proud to be a member of a union that stands up to protect the NDIS and workers.

Then there is the CPSU. Haven't they experienced an absolute battering from the Turnbull government? There have been cuts to the Department of Social Services, cuts to the Australian tax office in Townsville and cuts to the services provided by the Department of Veterans' Affairs in Townsville. It has been cut after cut after cut. This union has stood up and fought not only for its members but for the most vulnerable people in our society. Their work is just amazing, and I want to particularly note the work of the National Secretary, Nadine Flood, and the Queensland state secretary, Bill Marklew, who have been relentless in their fight against the Turnbull government's unfair cuts.

Today we see another attack on unions with this bill. The Turnbull government is trying to rush this bill through the parliament without any proper scrutiny or stakeholder investigation. They are trying to undermine the process and get this nonsense bill, which is attacking unions, through the parliament as quickly as possible without the community uproar. This bill has significant implications for workers who benefit from their entitlements being protected through funds, including services like counselling, training, occupational health and safety, and support services that these funds invest in.

The government's purpose is to use this bill to limit the legitimate activities and source of income of unions, because they don't understand the genius of worker entitlement funds and the important services that they provide. A worker entitlement fund is defined as a fund that is for the purpose of, or purposes including, paying worker entitlements and death benefits. Worker entitlements are defined as including payments in respect of leave; payments in lieu of leave; payments in relation to termination of employment, whether ETPs or not; and any payments that contracts, awards or agreements provide for an employer to make to an employee. Worker entitlement funds—which, by the way, are jointly established by unions and employers—operate, firstly, to ensure that worker entitlements are protected, and, secondly, to provide important services to workers: training, counselling support, suicide prevention, and funding of occupational health and safety officers, just to name a few.

This bill puts additional requirements on the governance, financial reporting and financial disclosure requirements of worker entitlement funds; prohibits awards or enterprise agreements from requiring or permitting contributions to any fund other than a superannuation fund, a registered worker entitlement fund or a registered charity; prohibits awards or enterprise agreements from permitting or requiring employee contributions to a union election fund; prohibits coercion of employers to pay amounts to a particular worker entitlement fund, superannuation fund, training fund, welfare fund or employee insurance scheme; puts additional financial management and disclosure obligations on registered organisations; and introduces new penalties for registered organisations' noncompliance with financial management, disclosure and reporting requirements.

This bill places limits on when a worker entitlement fund can be registered or stay registered, including what sort of organisation can operate the fund, the make-up of the board of the fund and the way in which the assets of the fund can be used. The stakeholders have raised concerns that there is significant uncertainty about whether worker entitlement funds can continue to provide safety training and wellbeing services, such as suicide prevention and mental health support, and drug and alcohol counselling. As someone who has had 15 years experience working in the mental health sector, I am particularly concerned about that fact.

In particular, I am incredibly concerned over the impact this bill may have upon the excellent work undertaken by MATES in Construction, which is in the direct firing line of this bill. Changes in this bill have the potential to negatively impact upon MATES in Construction. MATES in Construction is a charity established in 2008 to reduce the high level of suicide among Australian construction workers. It was established in response to a major report on suicide, the AISRAP report, in the Queensland commercial building and construction industry. This report found that suicide rates in the industry were higher than the Australian average for men and that youth suicide in the industry could be as much as 2.38 times higher than it is for other young Australian men. Every year, 190 Australians working in the construction industry take their own lives. That figure is staggering, and MATES in Construction is there to assist construction workers and their families through these devastating and tough times. They do this by suicide prevention community development programs on sites. They support workers in need of help through case management and a 24/7 helpline. Together with OzHelp Foundation, they also provide Life Skills Toolbox training to apprentices and young workers.

If you don't believe me, then allow me to read a letter I received from a Herbert constituent today regarding MATES in Construction and this bill. The constituent asks that I do not use her name, as she is fearful that her husband's employer may identify him. The letter reads:

To the Sitting Member,

I bring to your attention as the wife of a union member the Bill the Turnbull Government are introducing into Parliament this week, the Fair Work Laws amendment (proper use of the workers benefits) bill 2017.

My husband told me about this after a CFMEU sub-branch meeting last Thursday night.

Our family has had to deal with the devastating tragedy of losing a child, personal illness and severe depression.

Without the services of the Union's Mates In Construction, anything could have happened to my family.

The threat of this Bill getting up and the blue-collar working class battlers losing the ability to use Mates In Construction suicide prevention assistance program and free counselling program for families including children would be devastating. I fear with this proposed bill all will be lost and many families will be disadvantaged, as we would have been. MATES in Construction gave us a funeral benefit that covered the cost of giving our child a dignified send-off. It will be a sad day if this bill gets over the line and a grim future for the generations to come if this government continues to take away the hard-fought entitlements that working-class people have continued to fight for to keep government from looking after the elite big end of town.

Yours sincerely,

Proud working-class union family in Townsville.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, these are the lives of real families that you aim to detrimentally affect as a result of this bill. This is the story of a family who has been through hardships that no family should ever have to suffer, a family that sought hope and help from MATES in Construction. MATES in Construction was the beacon of light for this family in very tough times, and I will not allow the Turnbull government to attack this vital service. I will fight for the workers in the Herbert community. I will fight for my comrades, and I will fight against this bill. It is vicious and malicious that the Turnbull government would attack this program just because MATES in Construction partners include the AMWU and the CFMEU. Causing any sort of detriment to an organisation that is purely there to help those in the construction industry with suicide prevention and mental health awareness, and to do so purely because it has links to unions, is abhorrent and disgusting. There is union bashing and then there is this. This is just plain outrageous by the Turnbull government. To put MATES in Construction under pressure, an organisation that assists an industry to decrease high suicide rates, is just downright wrong.

It is beyond comprehension, at a time when even the IMF and the OECD are warning that declining union density and collective bargaining are contributing to stagnant wages and growing inequality, that this government wants to further undermine workers and their unions. The Turnbull government is desperately trying to distract the public from the fact that it has no agenda to address wage stagnation, underemployment, unemployment and rising inequality—and, for that matter, anything else. Coalition governments will continually try to undercut and attack unions. But Labor and the unions will continue to do what we do best when we are under attack: stand up and fight back.

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