Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendment be agreed to.

The government in the Senate—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take my time because this is very important. Whilst you might all laugh, the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2014 is a very important bill. The government in the Senate did not oppose this amendment—a move by the Labor Party—and made that decision in order to have the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 commence as intended from 1 July 2014. The provisions contained in the PGPA Act seek to modernise the Commonwealth's current financial accountability performance and reporting framework. It is arguably the most significant change in public sector governance since the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 were introduced around 17 years ago. The bill makes amendments to more than 250 pieces of legislation across the Commonwealth to align their operation with the PGPA Act and to ensure the effective implementation of the PGPA Act and supporting PGPA rules.

The amendment proposed by the opposition would insert a new savings provision into the main PGPA (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill to ensure that a legal basis for the guidelines would remain under the PGPA framework and the amendments in the PGPA consequential bill would themselves no longer have the effect of scrapping those guidelines. While the government is not supportive of the guidelines, to ensure timely commencement of the PGPA Act the government does not oppose this amendment.

Finally, a lot of effort has already been devoted across the Commonwealth to ensuring that entities are ready for a 1 July 2014 start to the PGPA Act. There would be a disruption to planning across a considerable number of Commonwealth government bodies if the PGPA Act were not enacted at this time.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition supports the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2014 and we absolutely support the amendment. This amendment delivers wage justice for cleaners. While those opposite might say now that they support the amendment, we all remember them sitting on this side of the chamber to try to vote against wage justice for cleaners only this week. This week began with the Prime Minister saying on Monday:

I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that no cleaner's pay is reduced.

On Tuesday, they introduced a bill that would have the impact of reducing the pay for cleaners. Under the Clean Start rates, cleaners who were being paid $22.02 per hour had the capacity to go down under the next tender round to the equivalent of $17.49 an hour—to lose up to $344 a week as a result. No-one should be in any doubt that those opposite are willing to attack the pay and conditions of the lowest paid workers in this country. No-one should be in any doubt that, when it comes to low- and middle-income earners, people on this side of the chamber—the Labor members—will be the ones who stand up for them.

We heard from Minister Cormann in the Senate and we heard it again from the parliamentary secretary—and any low-paid worker should remember these words—that the government continues to 'not be supportive of the guidelines'. Australia's low-paid workers should know that, any future attempt by the government—whether it be by regulation or whether it be by a new bill—to cut the wages of Australia's low-paid workers, Labor will stand up for them and stand in the way of those opposite.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendment be agreed to.

Question agreed to.