Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just to put into context what is going on in the chamber, the government has its Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill, which has gone through the Senate. The Senate passed four amendments to that legislation, and this is one of them. At the moment, we are talking about the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) Bill 2023. What we could do right now is pass this specific amendment, which is part of a bigger bill that the government hasn't been able to get through the Senate yet.

This is, in reality, a goodwill gesture from the opposition. We are saying four things could happen right now. Members of the government spoke very passionately about this element, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, when the bigger bill was going through. They spoke about the urgency with which it needed to happen. So what we are doing is an element of goodwill. The opposition and, I'm sure, many crossbenchers got up and spoke about the first amendment today and were happy to support this.

Why would we want to rush this through? When you talk about occupational health and safety nothing is more important than the asbestos safety and eradication bill. It will expand the functions of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency and will allow the agency to play a role in monitoring and reporting on national efforts to eliminate asbestos and silica related diseases in Australia and support those affected by the diseases. The agency is well regarded for its role, and the bill would provide the agency with silica oversight functions and would allow it to leverage its experience with asbestos and take on cross-portfolio coordination.

It will be really interesting to see what the government does here. This bill is one of four on which we are saying to the government: these four elements of the bill were important to you. We are saying that the opposition, and many crossbenchers also, will vote for this to happen today. So it is over to the government. Do they want these benefits? Do they want this amendment and others to come into force for workers in the Australian economy now or not? That is their decision. It will be interesting to see what they vote on because they spoke very passionately about the importance of this bill in particular, about its importance for the health and safety of Australian workers.

The Senate in its wisdom went through a process and has sent back to the House these four amendments as separate bills. We are saying that we don't want the government to put them on the Notice Paper and kick them out into the never-never. We do not think that is in the interests of Australian workers. I commend the crossbenchers who spoke on an earlier amendment this morning. We are trying to be constructive. We are trying to make this particular issue come into force for Australian workers earlier than it otherwise would be. This one specifically is important in that it relates to the health and health benefits of Australian workers.

This will be important. Is this just politics for the government and they won't take this measure of goodwill from the opposition to pass this now? Are they going to take their bat and go home and not allow to pass this amendment, which is good from the Australian workforce. They have the support of the opposition in this chamber, and of many crossbenchers as well. The minister is very passionate about this part of the closing loopholes bill. I encourage the minister to take this gesture of goodwill and let us pass this amendment today.

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