Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

No, it was the day that I was being sworn in, Senator Hutchins. With regard to the company to which Senator Fielding refers, I make the following points. As I understand the facts, this company had had Australian workplace agreements in place for a considerable period of time. Workers had been asked, and it had been usual practice for them, to work on Australia Day for the previous seven years. It was part of the Australian workplace agreement that they would make themselves available to work on public holidays in exchange for an extra week of annual leave. So these workers got five weeks annual leave in exchange for being asked on occasion to work on Australia Day.

Yes, Australia Day is an important day, but these workers signed up to the agreement knowing that they might be required to work on Australia Day but that, in exchange, they would be given an extra week of annual leave. I think I have indicated before that our friends in the media gallery here have come to a similar agreement with their employers. I think they get extra annual leave for being required to work on public holidays. This is not an unusual situation. We as a government say that people should be free to enter into arrangements that suit them. It seems to me that those workers who have allegedly complained must have signed up to this agreement knowing that they have been required in the past to work on Australia Day and also knowing that they get the benefit of an extra week of annual leave. It seems that they were not complaining about the extra week of annual leave in their agreement, but they were complaining about being required to work on a public holiday which, as I understand it, had been common practice in that business for a considerable period of time. This reflects that Australian workplace agreements allow for flexibility for employers and employees to come together to suit both their needs. That is why in an employment situation such as the one that Senator Fielding refers to, the employer requires staff to work on Australia Day in exchange for which the employees get an extra week of annual leave. I reckon that is a pretty fair deal.