Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns:

(a) lawless activity on workplaces in Australia;

(b) the use of vessel bans, overtime bans, acting up bans, shift bans, and stop work meetings by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) that has created chaos on Australian wharves;

(c) the use of industrial action in support of pay increases of over 30 per cent for people earning over $300,000 while damaging the capacity of so many other businesses to pay workers on much lower salaries and create jobs; and

(d) industrial action that threatens supply of critical medical supplies in the middle of a pandemic;

(2) notes that:

(a) many industry sectors including agriculture and road transport have reported supply chain problems which are linked to the MUA's actions;

(b) it is estimated that $165.6 million of imports and $66.9 million of exports per day were disrupted; and

(c) vital medical supplies are being disrupted, at a time when they are needed the most;

(3) further notes that this industrial action is:

(a) not in support of any safety or other related issue but rather pay increases for many people who are earning over $300,000 a year;

(b) supported by many other associated entities of the labour movement such as the Australian Labor Party, industry super owned proxy adviser Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, industry super owned media companies such as The New Daily, class action law firms, and others; and

(c) consistent with previous actions that have hurt our national interests such as during World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and other times; and

(4) notes the failure of the interest based bargaining that has handed over management control to the MUA and still resulted in out of control industrial action and disempowered workplaces, and threatens the Australian dream.

We are a nation of laws, not a nation of bullies. We believe in a world of law where the strong are just, the weak are secure and the peace is preserved. We want this to be true, but it is not. On our wharves every day we see how far our nation has departed from its promise and its values. We have allowed powerful vested interests to prevail over the common good. There is no better example of this than the Maritime Union of Australia. Here the weak are stood over, might is right and the peace is rarely preserved.

Until recently, the situation was this. At Port Botany there were bans on shift extensions, bans on upgrades and bans on overtime. At Brisbane, there were bans on upgrades, bans on shift extensions, bans on overtime, bans on call-ins, bans on working advanced or delayed start times, bans on the operation of RTGs beyond the safest minimum operating speed as determined by the driver, bans on the operation of the quay crane beyond the safest minimum operating speed as determined by the driver, bans on operating RTGs for more than two runs in a three-run shift or one run in a two-run shift—one hour stoppage at the start of each shift, three stoppages per day. There were bans on shift extensions, bans on upgrades, bans on overtime. In Fremantle, there were bans on upgrades, bans on shift extensions, bans on overtime, bans on call-ins, bans on working advanced or delayed start times, bans on the operation of RTGs, bans on the operation of quay cranes beyond the safest minimum operating speed as determined by the driver and bans on operating RTGs for more than two runs in three. In Melbourne, there was a ban on accepting subcontracted vessels.

It just goes on and on, but it is all possible because of the parasitic victories that have enabled this, from one to the next—from superannuation schemes that were meant to reduce inequality but have exacerbated it to industrial laws that enable the strong to bully the vulnerable, supported by IR academics and union aligned litigation lawyers that continue to be virtually unregulated, as we have seen in the Banksia case. The MUA tried to put a vessel ban on the six shipping lines that represent more than 80 per cent of our cargo. They've also tried on a 24-hour stop-work ban and they've put on two hour bans per shift. All the while, empty containers are piling up in Australia, with overseas suppliers now demanding that they build new containers, at US$1,500 per container—more cost, more reputational damage and more people out of work.

Some may ask: Who cares? If there are delays, businesses may have to pay up to 50 per cent more for their cargo, but they will eventually get it, right? The problem is that while they are waiting for products to sell, their staff still want to get paid, their children still want to be fed, the tax office still needs to be paid, banks kind of like to eventually get their loans repaid, landlords want their rent and councils want their rates. Let us not forget councils; they pretty much want their rates straightaway—the only level of government not to offer anything in terms of relief for Australians during this pandemic.

Ms McBain interjecting—

I note the former mayor in the chamber disagrees with that. Oh well. As one small business in my community told me—

Ms McBain interjecting—

Hang on, Member for Eden-Monaro. This is a person speaking now. 'I am not speaking on behalf of big business. I'm just a small, insignificant retailer in the wider economy. I'm speaking on behalf of thousands of small family businesses that are desperately relying on the import process to survive. For us, this strike action does not simply mean foregoing a pay rise next year or the year after. It means losing my income completely—potential insolvency, bankruptcy, losing my home, my family and my kids.' As a female entrepreneur also told me: 'I don't begrudge unions working for their members to gain fair pay and safe working conditions or to fight against workplace abuse, but this has nothing to do with any of those issues. This is just about getting more money.' (Time expired)

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