Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Lalor for the opportunity to speak about industrial relations reform and how best to support Australian workers, including casuals. The Financial Review reported that the minister has declared that the next round of IR reforms will be a contest on wages. If you're listening, Minister, I'm up for that contest.

Let's start where we agree. Wage growth has been too slow for too long. This is something that workers have experienced not just under the coalition government but also under the previous Labor government. Both sides need to do better. To do that, we need healthy, productive policy debates which focus on the outcomes that will deliver for workers, as well as the consequences and trade-offs of each option. We shouldn't fight about who does or doesn't care about workers or families, or who is or isn't in the pocket of businesses or unions. Let's keep the focus where it belongs: on policies and outcomes.

So what is the government's policy? It's to raise wages by striking at underpayment, giving workers more bargaining power, converting more casual workers to permanent work and cracking down on platform operators with more flexible working arrangements. There are a number of trade-offs here. First is that it prioritises wage growth over everything else. For some workers, a wage rise is vitally important and, understandably, trumps all other considerations. But the Susan McKinnon Foundation has shown recently the diversity of what matters to workers. Almost a third say higher pay is the most important consideration for them, but 21 per cent rate job security, 17 per cent prefer flexibility and seven per cent say a shorter commute is more important than more pay. It's notable that almost two-thirds of part-time workers rate shift flexibility as more important than pay. For workers who value things other than wages, forcing employers to focus on pay ultimately means neglecting other important values.

The second trade-off is that this change is essentially a one-off benefit. Workers will enjoy wage growth while the economy adjusts to the new rules, but it doesn't provide the foundations for ongoing wage growth. If IR reform makes workplaces less flexible and less dynamic, it will be harder for firms to grow and harder for employers to fund pay rises in the future.

The third trade-off is that cracking down on new forms of work reduces competition for workers. You can protect workers' rights legally with rules and courts or economically by ensuring unhappy workers can easily and quickly find employment elsewhere. We certainly need basic rights to be protected, and I support the government's efforts to ensure this protection, but the overall balance of legal and economic protections will vary by workers and industries. We shouldn't neglect the upsides of having a lot of competing employers, and the Labor members for Fenner or Fraser know all about the dangers of monopsony.

Labor market competition isn't just an issue for digital platforms either. Small businesses are a huge source of employment, and each tranche of IR reform has imposed significant burdens on them. The smallest have been carved out, but many small businesses such as local cafes, gyms and retailers are still affected. If we keep adding to the regulatory burden, we shouldn't be surprised if small-business owners decide to call it quits and we end up with fewer opportunities for Australian workers.

I can respect the government's position, but we need to ensure that the trade-offs are worthwhile. The best thing is for workers to have a dynamic labour market that supports choice, flexibility and ongoing wage growth—one that accommodates the different preferences of different employers and employees and ensures healthy competition for workers, which drives improvements in wages and conditions.

This debate is just getting started, and I look forward to engaging more with stakeholders on all sides. I hope we can have a positive and constructive debate which focuses on the policy options and their trade-offs, weighs up what is practical for businesses to implement and focuses on how to better support outcomes for Australian workers and Australian businesses.

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