Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Today, just eight business days after the introduction into the House of perhaps the most significant industrial relations reform proposed since the Work Choices legislation in 2006, we're now being asked to truncate due process around the review of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. Coming from a background of small business and having managed, built and grown multi-employee businesses across a number of sectors, I confess that, while I welcome discussion around this reform, I am immediately concerned that the due process that should support a robust review of this magnitude of legislation is being severely truncated.

With my most recent experience having been in the area of building communities and campaigns to bring people, businesses and organisations along when advocating for significant reform, there is much in this current process that leaves me feeling that, despite assurances that this rushed process is in everyone's best interest, there are many—and there will be many in my community—who will be left with significant concerns as to what this legislation means for them, their businesses and indeed their jobs. Unfortunately, I suggest that, even after a flurry of briefings, for which I am incredibly grateful, and a commitment to personally review every drafted proposed amendment, this bill is still very much a work in progress. Surely, if we are to learn anything from the failed Work Choices legislation, it is that, if it is worth doing the work, it's worth getting it right right from the beginning rather than rushing headlong into significant form that is not tested for its unintended consequences.

This is the broadest reform to the Industrial Relations framework we have seen in more than a decade, and I as North Sydney's federal voice in the chamber, have had less than a fortnight to consult with my community to ensure its implications are truly considered. I do not support truncating this debate.

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