Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account Bill 2012 and the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account (Consequential Amendments) 2012. At the outset I indicate that the coalition is concerned that the government are trying to rush through this legislation through the House after this bill was introduced into this place just yesterday. Late last night the government contacted the opposition to request that we assist them in facilitating its expedient and urgent passage through the House. Normally, a bill is introduced, a week is allowed for the opposition parties to consider the bill and to take it to opposition committees, the party room and to the shadow cabinet. That is the normal process which applies and which has applied, whoever has been in government in this country, for many decades.

Despite the alleged urgency of this bill, departmental officials that met with opposition advisers this morning could not provide any substantive reasons for the urgent rush. Indeed, the 1 December start date was suggested by the government in its joint submission to Fair Work Australia and it first committed funding for this in last year's MYEFO, released almost 12 months ago. The handling of this bill is symbolic of the shambolic nature of this government and its contempt for the parliament. Indeed, if I can say it, if we had a Prime Minister who spent less time playing the victim and more time getting on with governing this nation then this parliament might act in a better way.

The coalition welcomed the finalisation of the long-running case involving the social and community sector. Given the important role played in and services provided to our communities right throughout Australia by this sector, care must now be taken to ensure that these services are not reduced or jeopardised and that jobs are not lost. The government must ensure that community service organisations do not close or reduce services as a result of any cost pressures that this decision may cause. Equal remuneration is important, but so is the maintenance of the significant services that organisations in almost every community across this country provide. Indeed, in the Australian newspaper today we have seen concerns being raised in the community that this funding:

… will lead to job losses and service cuts to programs for the nation's most vulnerable.

Indeed, the full bench of Fair Work Australia expressed concern about the impact of this decision on some parts of the sector that provide services for which costs cannot be recovered or receive any government funding.

The coalition continues to harbour some serious concerns that the Gillard government's plan to fund pay rises in the community sector will change the workplace landscape and fuel further wage pressures across the economy. Indeed, to date the government has refused to provide the details of how the funding will be met. Just earlier this week, the Prime Minister dressed up an announcement of $2.8 billion in funding for the social and community services sector workers who will be receiving pay rises courtesy of a Fair Work Australia decision. This is not just old news; it is a $300 million cut in Labor's promise. Further, Ms Gillard announced $2.1 billion, then an additional billion, before reducing it back to $3 billion, and now today it is right back to $2.8 billion. So the question is: what is the amount of money which the Commonwealth is committing to this venture?

On the other hand, Labor continues to dish out millions of dollars in grants to union bosses. Ms Gillard and Mr Shorten, the responsible minister, today need to explain why they seem to have broken yet another promise. Further, the government cannot even tell us if the $2.8 billion has been set aside today or will be drawn down from future budgets. It is also worth noting that the government, ahead of putting its submission to Fair Work Australia, only consulted the unions—not the providers, not the state governments and not the employees on the ground. And today we see the Victorian government already expressing its concerns about how this is going to operate into the future and about the legislation.

Unlike the government, the coalition genuinely believes in supporting low-paid workers but also, in the parliament, operating in a proper and ordered manner. We are disappointed that the government are once again using this place as their plaything so that the Prime Minister and the ministers responsible can go and hold a doorstop. If the government were genuine about supporting low-paid workers they would scrap the carbon tax, stop the borrowing and cut the cost of living for ordinary Australians.

In summary, the government have had 12 months to introduce this legislation. They have not done so until yesterday, and now they now want it expedited through this parliament within a period of 24 hours. The government introduced the bill yesterday and they want a vote today, something out of the ordinary so far as the normal processes of this chamber and indeed this parliament operate. A briefing provided today about the proposed legislation has raised more questions than answers, and there is no guarantee that the government will be able to give us the necessary further briefings even today.

There has been chopping and changing about the amounts promised. For example, the $2.1 billion amount, then a further $1 billion, thus a total of $3.1 billion and now apparently $2.8 billion. The coalition has had little chance to speak with stakeholders or to consider practical implications of the bill. There is a good reason that in a democracy like Australia there is normally at least a week's space between the introduction of legislation and the debate on that legislation. It is to enable the opposition parties—the non-government parties—and indeed the government backbench to go out and consult with people in the community, particularly those most affected by a piece of legislation, to ascertain what the effects of that legislation are. How can we do that with less than 24 hours notice in relation to this particular proposition?

As I said, even people in the sector are out in the media today saying they have concerns about it. We have at least one state government expressing concerns about it within the space of 24 hours. The ability to do that is therefore being denied in this chamber. Obviously, there will be an opportunity in the Senate to do that but surely the people's House should have an opportunity to examine legislation in a proper manner, something which this shambolic government is not allowing.

The government is asking us to consider a $2.8 billion spend with less than 24 hours to do so—the hallmark of the Labor government's lack of due care or diligence for $3 billion of taxpayers' money being spent. It may well be appropriate that $3 billion be spent in this way but surely this House and, indeed, the members of this House have some responsibility to each of their constituents to make an assessment about the appropriateness of the expenditure in this manner.

Finally, parliament should not be forced to consider a bill just to impress the Australian Services Union because they happen to be in town. Let us not forget the other occasions on which the government has rushed large spending bills quickly and they have ended up being total disasters, such as the BER, which will remain a hallmark of the inefficiency and the infamy of this government. The coalition will not oppose the bill but we intend to have a fulsome consideration with the wider community prior to this bill being debated in the other place.

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I understand that it is the wish of the House to debate this order of the day concurrently with the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012. If there is no objection to that the Chair will allow that course to be followed.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account Bill 2012 and the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012. The member for Menzies was the architect, the author and the apostle of Work Choices, imposed on the community sector. What a mean-spirited response we saw from those opposite there today, saying they will support this bill! But they did nothing to support low-paid workers, particularly the 120,000 women of the 150,000 employees in this sector who will get assistance from this particular legislation today. It will make a big difference in my home state of Queensland and I particularly thank the Secretary of the Queensland branch of the ASU, Kath Nelson, and the Assistant Secretary Jenny Thomas for the work they do and the great work they have done on behalf of Queensland women, particularly those who work in the social and community sector.

Those opposite should hang their heads in shame for their inaction, their inertia and their inactivity in this sector. The fact is that we are putting close to $3 billion on the table, putting in a special account providing for those women particularly, and for those men who work in women and children's refuges, run support centres for people with a disability, lead counselling, family support services and emergency housing services—organisations in my electorate such as Focal Extended, Our House, IRASI, Ipswich Women's Centre Against Domestic Violence, Riverview House and many others. What are those opposite going to say about this when they go back to their electorates? 'We did nothing for nearly 12 years about this issue.'

We have put money on the table to achieve this just and fair outcome for the low-paid workers of this country. Those opposite say words but when it came to the legislation that they passed when they were on this side of the chamber it was not for workers—it was antiworkers. This legislation is for workers, for those people who make our community a more decent and humane place. That is what we are doing here today—150,000 workers will get assistance across the years from this legislation and what it does for them.

Under the terms of the equal remuneration order handed down by Fair Work Australia, about 150,000 SACS workers will get that assistance. From 1 December, wage rises are the nine instalments until 20 June 2021 totalling between 23 per cent and 45 per cent. It is a significant win, especially for women. For those employees in Queensland this is the fulfilment in large part of that heads of agreement signed between the Australian government by the then Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, and Linda White on 30 October 2009 in relation to low-paid workers across the country, preserving the new rates for Queensland employees and also achieving similar outcomes with the submission made to Fair Work Australia for employees in other states through pay equity and work value claims.

What we are doing here is making sure that those workers in those areas get the kind of wage justice they deserve. The decision to create a special account demonstrates our commitment to working families across the country, to SACS workers and, through our submission to Fair Work Australia on an historic equal pay case, for wage justice in this sector. The funding here will go towards funding the wages of those workers.

I am pleased that those organisations in Queensland will get the help that they need pursuant to this legislation. This includes Commonwealth funded service providers subject to the transitional pay equity order made by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on 12 June 2009. Those Queensland social and community sector workers will be transitioned over time to the Fair Work Australia equal remuneration order. That is a good outcome for my home state of Queensland when Campbell Newman and the LNP government are financially plundering the social and community sector and organisations like TASC funding through Queensland, which we had to step in and support because people were at risk of homelessness. Indeed, workers in those sectors were supported by this federal Labor government when those opposite said nothing while those services were being taken away from tenants and those other people who were struggling—people with a disability, people who are semi-literate, people who are financially challenged. Those opposite said nothing about that.

This legislation will help workers in those sectors to make sure that they create the kind of society we want—decent and humane, a fairer system, a stronger economy but a fairer society. That is what this federal Labor government is all about. We are committed to making sure those workers get it. This legislation will provide it for them. The ASU across the country, but particularly in my home state of Queensland, deserves recognition, acknowledgment and applause for what they have done. It goes to show what a federal Labor government does: it stands up for the poor, the vulnerable, the weak and those with a disadvantage, while those opposite stand up for everything that is mean and tricky. It was once again shown by the speech made by the honourable member for Menzies that they are committed to the pernicious, destructive attitude and legislation which we call Work Choices, and which we got rid of after the election of this federal Labor government. I commend the legislation and I commend the Minister for Community Services Julie Collins for the great work she has done.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Community Services ) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to address some of the issues raised in the debate on the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account Bill 2012. Whilst I appreciate the House's assistance in getting this bill through, the timing was raised by the shadow minister and I just want to put on the record some comments in relation to the timing. The bill is obviously about making payments to organisations and to states and territories. This argument that we could have done this 12 months ago is indeed nonsense because the equal remuneration order by Fair Work Australia was not finalised until late June and the Prime Minister made an announcement in July that we estimated the additional cost from the ERO to be around $1 billion. We have had to go away and do our costings since that time and the total is $2.82 billion.

This bill will establish a special account under the Financial Management and Accountability Act, supporting the Commonwealth's contribution of around $2.8 billion to Australia's social and community services sector workers following Fair Work Australia's historic equal pay ruling earlier this year. As we have heard, workers in the social and community services sector make a real difference to the lives of many vulnerable members of our community, taking on some of the most demanding jobs, including counselling families in crisis, running homeless shelters and working with people with disability and with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. We know that around 150,000 workers in the sector have been affected by this equal remuneration order—approximately 120,000 of them, the vast majority, are women.

The Fair Work Australia order means that some of Australia's lowest-paid workers will benefit from pay rises of between 23 and 45 per cent to be phased in from December this year. Around $2.8 billion in funding will be delivered over the eight years to meet the Commonwealth's share of the costs of these pay rises for social and community sector workers in Commonwealth funded programs, including programs funded under agreements with and payments to states and territories such as the national partnership payments and national specific purpose payments. Eight Commonwealth agencies will be able to draw on funding from the special account to assist employers who are directly and indirectly funded by the Commonwealth, as prescribed under the new legislation, and who have employees who qualify for rises under the order.

The phased introduction recognised the complex funding arrangements in the sector and will allow community sector organisations delivering Commonwealth funded programs to pay the new rates without reducing services to the community. A significant amount of Commonwealth funding will be provided to the sector through states and territory governments for agreements with and payments to states and territories such as national partnership payments and national specific purpose payments. This bill will enable funding to be paid to the COAG Reform Fund established under the COAG Reform Fund Act 2008 for this purpose. This government expects that the states and territories to pass on the full amount of funding and to meet their own obligations by committing their share of funds.

Every day the social and community services sector delivers vital services to the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Australians. We want to make sure the sector is strong and productive now and into the future. Not only are these workers deserving of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work but properly valuing caring work and providing decent wages in industries dominated by women is also an important part of keeping our economy strong and resilient.

The government will continue to work collaboratively with state and territory governments to ensure the historic Fair Work Australia order is fully implemented and fully funded for the benefit of workers in the sector. The government will also work with the sector to ensure the smooth implementation of the Fair Work Australia order across the states and territories.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop interjecting—

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.