Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is in fact a very large part of the economy. It represents some 10.4 per cent of our GDP. Because I used to be on the tools myself I know that many people in the building industry around the country will be listening to parliament right now because they are good, decent citizens who want to take an active role in our democracy and really enjoy listening to parliament. They're going to be wondering what this is all about.

The government introduced the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023. It's an omnibus bill. There are a lot of things in it that we disagree with. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Small Business Redundancy Exemption) Bill 2023 has come to this chamber from the Senate. To their credit, Senators David Pocock and Lambie have effectively hived out the less contentious issues. One of them is the small business redundancy exemption. We on this side of the House think it's really important—and I would have thought that those on the other side of the House think it's really important too, because it is their bill.

For those listening at home or at work, the bill we are dealing with today is a private senator's bill that ensures that employees do not miss out on redundancy payments merely because their employer became a small business as a result of bankruptcy or insolvency. I don't in any way seek to take away from the gravity or importance of this issue, but it reminds me of the building industry joke: 'How do you make a small fortune out of the building industry? You start with a big company.' That's the reality.

There are so many pressures on the building industry right now that building companies are closing down left, right and centre. There are many pressures being brought to bear by the cost of living that this government has brought on: trades are in short supply; materials are incredibly expensive; the price of steel, concrete and timber has gone through the roof; and, sadly, more than two construction businesses in this country are failing every week. That is having a significant impact, obviously, upon their employees. Some businesses are small, but others are very large, and the carnage being reaped upon construction sector workers across this country is very, very significant.

I would have thought that, for a party that prides itself on allegedly being the party for the workers, it would have come in here today and said: 'Fair go; no worries. These are relatively uncontentious provisions. They're from our bill. We'll support them.' To date, to be fair, we don't know how the government is going to deal with this. Do you know what? I have this sneaking suspicion that they're not going to support it. It would be a source of great shame not just for the minister but for all those members opposite who pride themselves allegedly on being the party for the workers--and, here we are, the crossbench and the opposition in the Senate support it, and we support the extraction of the less contentious issues. But I want to focus on the small business redundancy exemption. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, I'll have an opportunity to talk later today about the other three bills.

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