Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023. But first I would like to talk about a Swiss cheese paradox. Swiss cheese, as we all know, has a lot of holes. The more holes you have, the less cheese you have. And the more cheese you have, the more holes you have. Therefore, the more cheese you think you have, the less cheese you actually have. You might think, 'Willcox has gone mad. Why is he talking about cheese in parliament?' Well, this new bill, under Labor, is Swiss cheese, and brings with it its own Swiss cheese paradox. It's not only confusing, it's complex. Labor reckon they are closing the loopholes when in fact they are adding more holes. Frustratingly, I have been asking the House a lot recently: what is Labor actually doing for the Australian public? It seems the answer is: not much, because here I am asking the same question again. So let me explain it to you. Then let me tell you what this is going to mean for the people in my electorate of Dawson.

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Mr Burke, announced a 280-page bill to amend the fair work legislation. Along with it came a 521-page explanatory memorandum. That's 801 pages in total. Unbelievable! We are being told that it's good for the Australian public. However, in reality, the only people that are going to benefit from these amendments are the unions. How typical. Here are the facts. The fair work legislation amendments are impossibly complex. The fair work legislation amendments are going to cost business billions in wages. The fair work legislation amendments are going to cost consumers more, and this is the last thing that Australians need in a time of a Labor created cost-of-living crisis. And Minister Burke has openly admitted to all of these things. What I don't understand is that he doesn't seem to care, when in reality caring about legislation he creates is his job. What has he done instead of caring? He has developed fair work legislation amendments that are anything but fair. All they will result in is job losses at a time of a Labor created cost-of-living crisis.

This is another rushed decision made by the Albanese Labor government without consultation, without speaking to peak representative bodies, without speaking to businesses and without consulting the people that this bill is going to directly impact. The public outrage over these amendments has been staggering. Jennifer Westacott, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, said:

Australians should have safe jobs, well paid jobs and rewarding jobs, but the government's radical shake-up of the industrial relations system will not deliver that …

These changes will create confusion and extra costs for consumers, make it harder to hire casual workers and create uncertainty for employing anybody.

Any government that's serious about cost of living would not do this.

What a statement—any government that's serious about cost of living would not do this. But that's exactly what the Labor government is doing.

The 'same job, same pay' changes in this bill are going to be the bill that all Australians are going to have to pay. With this one policy, the nation's economic security is under assault, and this couldn't have come at a worse time. Speaking to one business owner in my electorate, I heard that his staff costs have already gone up 11.4 per cent since February alone. So why is the Albanese Labor government intent on crippling business further? 'Same job, same pay' will mean a labour hire worker who is brand-new to the business will, by law, have to be paid the same as the employee with decades of experience. But don't worry: Minister Burke says business can just pass these increased costs onto the already struggling consumer! Sounds fair, right? That's as long as the unions still get their cheques.

But that's not all. These amendments will mean that Fair Work will have the power to dictate the hours of work and the pay rates for independent contractors. These hardworking Australians became independent contractors because they wanted to. They want to be able to choose their own hours, choose where they work and choose how they work. These Aussie workers chose their lifestyle because it suits them. Who do the Albanese government think they are to take that choice away from our hardworking Australian public?

What does this industry think of the policy? Well, Tania Constable of the Minerals Council of Australia has said:

The Albanese Government's latest industrial relations legislation changes are some of the most extreme, interventionist workplace changes that have ever been proposed in Australia.

The changes will inflict immense harm to the economy, the weight of which will fall on the shoulders of the most vulnerable Australians who will pay more for groceries, housing, and energy.

Andrew McKellar, the chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has said the legislation:

… will be bad for productivity, those wanting to be their own boss, and consumers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. The only winners in this are union chiefs. The only loophole this bad legislation is looking to close is that of plummeting union membership … This is a continuation of a radical industrial relations agenda, and we are again bracing ourselves for further risky changes to our workplace system.

Speaking of crippling businesses, this next one, in my opinion, is a direct attack on small business. Minister Burke has publicly admitted that this bill will add complexity to an already unduly complex system—801 pages of complexity, to be exact. The small businesses in my electorate do not have the IR teams or the HR teams to go through this bill with a fine-tooth comb just to understand it. Instead small-business owners, who are already struggling to pay the bills, working in their business day in, day out, will now be forced to spend a ridiculous amount of their own time or a ridiculous amount of money with solicitors in order to understand these new obligations. Matthew Addison from the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia agrees, saying:

The issues of confusion and complexity remain, combined with an increased requirement of every business, small or large, to dedicate resources, time and money towards trying to understand and implement these onerous new obligations.

…   …   …

At a time when small businesses are managing increased costs of supply, of rent, of power, of wages; we don't need changes that detract business from their sales and service delivery. Small business seek to employ and properly reward their workers. They seek to innovate and adopt new technology.

What have businesses in my electorate been saying? They're scared. These impassioned and infuriated business owners are certainly disheartened. One business owner said he's questioning why he's even doing this anymore and is considering walking away entirely. The impact of that? The 30 to 35 staff he employees will be out of a job, and that's just one business. Imagine if all the businesses in my electorate close their doors right now. Under the Labor government, his rent has increased, the cost of supplies has skyrocketed and workforce shortages are a constant and a never-ending battle. Now the Labor government has given him 801 pages of homework to do. These are the costs that business must either absorb, which is unsustainable for business, or pass on to consumers, who can't afford to pay any more. Another business owner said: 'It's all well and good for Minister Burke to say, "The business owners will be able to pass the cost on to consumers." In his words, it's only a little bit more, but a little bit more for one consumer, who is already struggling to make ends meet, turns into one less sale for that business. Multiply that by 26 million people in Australia, and that's a lot less sales for businesses.' The consequences of these amendments will be increased inflation, an increase in the cost of living, decreasing profits for businesses, business closures and job losses on a potentially exponential scale, resulting in increased pressure on government funded welfare systems. This is textbook Labor, and we can see it play out over and over again.

For anyone who does not know, if you do a quick Google search on what causes a recession, you will find the following:

As corporations and households get overextended and face difficulties in meeting their debt obligations, they reduce investment and consumption, which in turn leads to a decrease in economic activity.

According to the businesses that I have spoken to on this topic, the writing is already on the wall. The last time Australia entered into a recession was in the early nineties, after Labor had been in government for seven years. In mid-2007 Australia watched the global financial crisis cripple the world. While we did experience some hardships as a nation, thankfully we did not experience the widespread devastation that the rest of the world did. Who was in government at the time of the GFC, and who had been in government ensuring Australia had a strong economic foundation for years before the GFC? You guessed it—the coalition, the Liberal and National parties. Now, in 2023, under another Labor government, we are facing the serious threat of yet another recession. And what is the Labor government doing about it? Nothing, but making it worse.

Labor has spruiked about being the party of the people. But if that is so, why are you subjecting Australia to such devastating consequences? If the Labor government don't start realising the consequences of their actions, they are going to grind this economy to a halt. Just like the Swiss cheese paradox, welcome to the Labor government paradox, where they say and promise one thing, all wrapped up in fancy packaging of hopeful and promising-sounding names, but the reality is they are making an economic situation in this country worse.

It seems to be a theme that I am standing here again calling on the Albanese Labor government and calling on Minister Burke to reverse their decisions. I am calling on the Albanese Labor government to think about what this legislation is doing to the people of Australia and to the good people in my electorate of Dawson. Don't condemn us to more cost-of-living pressures. Don't condemn us to business closures. Don't condemn us to job losses. Don't condemn us to bankruptcy, and don't condemn us to even more homelessness. The time to do the right thing is now. In this Labor created cost-of-living crisis, do not make the situation worse with radical, ill-conceived industrial relations laws.

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