Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was speaking last night in favour of both the bills before the Senate, the Independent Contractors Bill 2006 and the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Independent Contractors) Bill 2006. The thrust of the policy and the foundational views behind the legislation are that we want to build a spirit of enterprise in this country, a spirit of entrepreneurship. We want to encourage incentive, we want to encourage reward for effort and we want to encourage creativity amongst business, particularly small business, microbusinesses, which are so important across our nation.

I had the privilege of being appointed by Peter Reith, a former minister for employment and workplace relations, some years ago, in the late nineties, as a member of the Australian government’s microbusiness consultative committee. As a member of that committee, I recall that 82 per cent of all small businesses are actually microbusinesses—that is, businesses with fewer than five employees. That is a huge number and a very important part of the Australian business framework: they provide jobs and they support families.

I want to pay credit to those types of businesses. Indeed, I want to pay credit to the independent contractors—in many cases, very small operators of fewer than five employees. Many of them are family based businesses. According to the Productivity Commission, there are around 800,000 in Australia. The Independent Contractors of Australia estimate the figure is as high as 1.9 million. These businesses put their necks on the line. They probably have a mortgage on their own home. They provide jobs, obviously, for themselves and perhaps for other family members and others in the community. They are certainly the jobs generators in Australia today. Nearly 50 per cent of the private sector workforce in Tasmania comes from the small business sector. Tasmania is very much a small business state, and I think our nation of Australia is very much desirous of encouraging small businesses to prosper and do well. Certainly that is the objective and the intent of the Howard government.

I want to acknowledge and thank federal minister Kevin Andrews for the work he has done in supporting the operations of small business throughout this country and, specifically, for following through on the 2004 election commitment to support independent contractors. They are a vital ingredient to the success of our economy. They have grown in numbers significantly over the last many years because they love that flexibility. They love the ability to prosper and do well as a result of the options and the choices they have. This is what we have done. We have actually fulfilled an election commitment. We have done what we said we would do in 2004. We are following through on that promise and delivering for those independent contactors.

Of course, the Labor Party and the union movement across the country oppose this legislation. They oppose it because they want to rope in all of these independent contractors—or at least the bulk of them—to be subject to our industrial relations regimes. This is exactly what has happened with the various state governments around Australia. They have deemed these independent contactors to be employees for the purposes of roping them in to be subject to our industrial relations legislation or their own state laws. Once they do that, the unions are thrilled because, as I said last night, he who pays the piper calls the tune.

The union movement has contributed over $47 million to the Labor Party since 1996, and I think it is a payback now because it has committed to provide, I understand, around $20 million in the lead-up to the next federal election. It is payback. The Labor Party are doing the bidding of their union masters and saying no to this legislation, and that is disappointing. This legislation, as I say, confirms and builds on the commitment that we made as a government in 2004 to the independent contractors of Australia, and we have fulfilled that commitment. Last night and yesterday many members opposite were waxing lyrical about the extreme industrial relations objectives of this government.