Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will begin by wishing the member for Goldstein a speedy recovery. He clearly isn't very well. I saw him walk in with a tissue—I thought he might have still been wiping the tears away from Saturday's by-election, but he's clearly not very well.

I do rise to speak in support of this bill, the Corporations Amendment (Strengthening Protections for Employee Entitlements) Bill 2018. I must say that every time I see a government bill on the Notice Paper with the word 'employee' in it, I tend to brace myself, because it seems that whenever this government seeks to discuss industrial relations it uses it as an opportunity to attack pay and conditions that workers have fought really hard for over years and years. It's happened time and time again. It shouldn't be a surprise. You can look to the Liberals slashing the take-home pay of hardworking Australians all around Australia or to the government turning a blind eye to the rampant exploitation of labour hire in this country, allowing the issue to get worse and worse. Or you can look at the sluggish wage growth, which has stagnated under the LNP, allowing economic inequality to skyrocket in Australia.

Deputy Speaker Howarth, you and I share a really beautiful part of the world, the Moreton Bay region. You and I both know, with respect to the three areas that I've just raised, that we have tens of thousands of hospitality and retail workers that live in the Moreton Bay region. You know and I know that they don't deserve to have their take-home pay slashed, and that's exactly what this government has done to those workers that live in our beautiful region.

It did come as a huge relief to see that this bill amends the Corporations Act to deter unscrupulous employers from deliberately avoiding liability for unpaid employee entitlements and from shifting that liability to the Commonwealth via the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, or, as many people know it, the FEG. Let's be clear though; let's be honest: essentially this bill is a repurposed Labor policy. Tired of this cowardly government's inaction, Labor announced in May last year—that was nearly a year and a half ago—that we would reform the criminal offence of deliberately avoiding the paying of employee entitlements. Labor's policy would make it easier to prove and it would make it easier to prosecute accessories. It's good to see the government have adopted Labor policy in this bill, even if it took them over a year. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so it's nice to see the government acknowledge which party it is that's developing this policy which will lead Australia forward—a party that's got vision, a party that is truly leading Australia. So I would like to call on the government to continue following our lead, to follow Labor's lead. Maybe then we will finally see a greater focus on protecting workers in this country.

I suggest the government should start by listening to Labor and improving this bill. The member for Goldstein picked up that Labor wants to move some amendments, and that's because we want to make it the best bill, the most protective bill, for workers in this country. And we want to do that by expanding the powers of registered organisations. In giving registered organisations standing to commence civil proceedings under the new provisions for compensation and unpaid entitlements recovery, workers will be far better off. I know this. Labor knows this. In their heart of hearts, I'd suggest that all the members on the other side of the chamber know this as well. We have all seen registered organisations stand up for workers in these situations before. It's what the trade union movement does. The Australian trade union movement has always stood up for workers and it's always there for them when they're being ripped off by a shonky employer.

It was about a decade ago that the early childhood education sector was thrown into absolute turmoil when ABC Learning closed, almost overnight. Loyal early childhood educators went from having a stable job, decent pay, decent conditions and accrued entitlements to losing any form of stability. It was the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, which has now changed to be known as United Voice, that stood there beside its members, beside those workers. It was the union that supported each and every one of its members who had been mistreated. It was this union that made sure, together and united, their voices were heard. Giving it the ability to truly represent its members and commence civil proceedings would be an absolutely huge win for Australian workers. In a submission, the Australian Council of Trade Unions championed this suggestion. They identified that it would give an option to workers, instead of insisting that they rely on the tax office, Fair Work or the department to represent them. It's a proposal that's got merit. It could bring a dash of fairness back to a system that so desperately needs it.

Just last year, the then President of the ACTU and now member for Batman, the amazing Ged Kearney, who sits behind me here in the chamber, made note that between 11,949 and 19,800 Australian companies have been involved in potentially illegal phoenixing activities. Can you believe that—nearly 20,000! That's according to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Australian Tax Office. The now member for Batman and, at the time, ACTU president Ged Kearney recognised that:

Allowing dodgy company directors to tank a company to avoid paying working people their entitlements is a serious abuse of power. It is an indication of where corporation rules and regulations are too lenient and favour business over workers.

When you look at the facts, the statement of Ged Kearney, the member for Batman, looks increasingly relevant. Since their introduction into the Corporations Act in 2000, there have been no successful criminal or civil recovery actions for the intentional avoidance of underpaid employee entitlements. Let me repeat that: there have been zero successful criminal or civil recovery actions. None whatsoever. I'm hopeful that this bill will be seen as a step in the right direction in evening out what can only be described as a lopsided playing field.

Despite not yet including the ability for registered organisations to represent workers, as it stands, part 1, schedule 1 of the bill makes available three courses of action to pursue persons who engage in and facilitate transactions to avoid paying unpaid employee entitlements. The first course goes to proceedings to seek criminal sanctions for when a person intends to enter into or recklessly enters into or causes the entry into a transaction that avoids, prevents or significantly reduces the recovery of employee entitlements. The second point goes to civil penalty proceedings for when a person knows or it was reasonable for the person to know a transaction is likely to avoid, prevent or significantly reduce the recovery of employee entitlements. Point 3 goes to civil compensation proceedings to allow the liquidator or potentially the tax office, Fair Work or even the department to seek compensation for the loss or damage suffered as a result of a contravention of the civil penalty provision. These are sensible reforms. They are sensible reforms that will help protect countless workers who have been let down by a system that still lacks proper protections that are so, so desperately needed.

I'd love to commend the government for bringing these reforms forward, but I do have to note that the bill hasn't come from a new-found support for working people. No, not at all. The primary motivation of the government in raising this bill is to reduce the fiscal cost to the Commonwealth of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee rather than any true commitment to protecting workers and their entitlements. While looking to the budget is certainly not a bad thing—I'm not saying it is—it's disappointing to know that the Liberal-National Party haven't changed their tune and aren't now advocating for workers.

The memorandum that accompanies this bill notes that the average annual costs under the current FEG scheme have more than tripled from $70.7 million in the four-year period between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2009 to $235.3 million in the four-year period from 2014 to 2018. That is a huge rise—an absolutely huge rise. This sharp rise in costs can be attributed to a small number of corporations shifting the liability of paying out employee entitlements onto the FEG rather than paying them out as they should.

One such operation was the ill-fated Queensland Nickel, to which the Queensland businessman Clive Palmer has strong ties. I note that the member for Herbert is here in the chamber now. I would suggest that, if I sat down right now and allowed the member for Herbert to have my remaining 3½ minutes and all of the rest of the speaking spots, the member for Herbert could tell you some stories about Queensland Nickel and about the workers who are still suffering in Townsville. I would suggest that she could probably finish the night off, if we allowed her to.

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