Belinda Neal (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy. Will the minister outline to the House the benefits to small business of the government’s industrial relations reform?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They are all fired up, Mr Speaker.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The fan club will settle down.

Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If I could thank the member for Robertson for her question and for the good work that she does with the Gosford Chamber of Commerce, where I attended a meeting about a year ago. It was a very good meeting, and she works very well and strongly in representing the interests of small business in her electorate.

In Forward with Fairness, the government committed to tearing up Work Choices and introducing a fair, simple and flexible industrial relations system. For small business owners, Work Choices was anything but simple and flexible. For example, the so-called fairness test was a red-tape nightmare for small businesses. In fact, there was a backlog about this time a year ago of more than 150,000 agreements awaiting final assessment. Under the government’s changes, awards and agreements will have special flexibility clauses enabling small businesses and their employees to tailor working conditions to their personal circumstances, subject of course to a proper, decent and effective safety net.

The Rudd government is keeping its election commitment to provide basic protection for good employees from being dismissed unfairly while allowing business owners to manage their workforce according to their commercial needs. To enable small business owners to dismiss staff fairly, the government has developed a simple, six-paragraph fair dismissal code. If the employer follows the code then the dismissal will be deemed fair. Of course, genuine redundancies are excluded from the unfair dismissal laws.

A number of small business organisations have provided comment on the fair dismissal code and the system that we have put in place. COSBOA, a peak small business organisation, in a press release headed ‘Fair dismissal code acceptance’ said:

Small business can be pleased with the outcome …

The Australian Industry Group said:

The Fair Dismissal Code for small businesses will be short and easily applied.

So there is a good endorsement. The National Farmers Federation indicated their support with the media release entitled ‘Farmers sign off on Govt’s “Fair Dismissal Code”’. It stated:

The National Farmers’ Federation … endorsed the Australian Government’s Fair Dismissal Code … as ‘striking a sensible, practical balance for employers and employees’.

Here are a couple of others. In a letter to me, the Master Builders said:

Master Builders is supportive of the Fair Dismissal provisions because it recognises the particular circumstances that small business faces in the engagement of staff. Your Government’s commitment in recognising the needs of small business in relation to employment is very much appreciated.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia said:

On behalf of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia I wish to congratulate you and the Government on the sensible approach taken in finalising the Fair Dismissal Code.

They are pretty solid endorsements, but we do not have any such endorsements from the coalition. In fact, the shadow Treasurer, as recently as September, said in a speech—which is very difficult to find; in fact, impossible to find—

Government Member:

Who wrote it?

Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not sure who wrote because we cannot find it. The shadow Treasurer and the deputy Liberal leader said on unfair dismissals that the opposition would resist any move to turn back the clock. It would be very interesting to see if we can get an answer. Maybe it will come from the fourth question from the Leader of the Opposition on what his view is. An article by SmartCompany said of the shadow small business minister:

Opposing Labor’s plan to remove the unfair dismissal exemption for SMEs will be the first priority for new opposition small business spokesman Steven Ciobo.

The article went on to say:

Ciobo says any attempt by Labor to cut down the 100 employee threshold for exemption from unfair dismissal laws will receive his ‘absolute and confirmed opposition’.

So the truth is that as far as the coalition is concerned Work Choices is not dead; it is just resting, pining for the fjords. The Liberal Party was, is and always will be the party of Work Choices. The Rudd Labor government is the party of a fair, flexible and decent industrial relations system in this country.