Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business says, 'Well it wasn't long enough.' When the bills used to be introduced here to go through that day, no-one other than the minister made a speech. It's not a situation where you're members of parliament in the seventies and eighties and standing up and speaking. And in terms of the Senate committee process that has been continuing today, there has not been an industrial relations or workplace relations law in the last 10 years which has had more days of Senate hearings than this one—not one. So they're wanting to claim that the process is outrageous, and they're wanting to claim that things are somehow rushed. But, in terms of the debate here, not one member has been denied the chance to speak. In terms of the processes that are going on in the Senate, there have been more committee hearing days than for any other bill in this portfolio for the last decade.

In terms of consultation with stakeholders, there have been meetings with the BCA, with ACCI, with the Ai Group, with COSBOA, on multiple occasions—yes, as well as with the ACTU. The vast majority of meetings have been with business organisations, including single-interest business groups: Clubs Australia, Master Builders, National Farmers Federation, ARIA, the Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, HVAC—the manufacturing installation association. They're the business group, by the way, that install, in large buildings, the air-conditioning and ventilation services. They're one of the businesses that have been crying out for multi-employer bargaining to occur. Why? Because they're against the race to the bottom in wages. They're against the race to the bottom, which is exactly what those opposite are so eager to defend. You don't get wages moving if, every time an employer comes forward doing the right thing and paying a higher rate, they get undercut and lose their business.

I'll tell you: I am all for competition in the market, but I want that competition to be on better quality, I want that competition to be on better trained staff, and I want that competition to be on the different brands and different ways that people market themselves. I don't want the competition in Australia to be on the race to the bottom on wages. If you refuse to have systems that work for multi-employer bargaining—and at the moment multi-employer bargaining is already in the act, but it doesn't work. It's a complete failure, for the simple reason that it's been so complex, so difficult to get into, that businesses have not been able to effectively use it.

Those opposite, if it's about environmental protection or about consumer protection, will talk about red tape. They'll talk about all the difficulties with complexity. But, when it comes to a system about getting wages moving, they love red tape. They want as much red tape as they can possibly have. They want to make sure that every barrier is put in the way of people getting their wages moving. When inflation is looking at reaching eight per cent and wages have moved a bit but are still at 3.1, people are going backwards every day. When the pressure starts to come off inflation, you want that crossover point for wages to start getting in front so that people can start getting in front again in a way that was denied to them for a decade.

Be in no doubt about what this motion calls for. (1) What it calls for is a bit impossible, because the bill's not here, but let's just humour those opposite for a minute and just pretend that this is possible to do. It says that 10 years of keeping wages low wasn't long enough. That's their view. They had 10 years of holding back wages and it just wasn't long enough for them. And what they're saying now is, 'Can't we just have a few more months?' What do you reckon they'll say in February? It will be 'a few months more'; it will be 'a little bit longer'. They'll say, 'These business groups oppose it.' Well, I tell you what, I say to those opposite: can you name the worker who doesn't need for their pay to go up? Name the workers who are not affected by inflation. Name the workers who are not affected by what's happening to their mortgage or by what's happening to their rent. Name the workers who are not affected by these price increases. We need to get wages moving, and we're opposed to the motion.

See this speech in context