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

That is reassuring; if you can read, I invite you to actually read it. If you had done so, you would not have continued to seek to mislead the Australian people about the provisions of our legislation. In relation to the fairness test, we are seeking to get a balance between that which is required to protect employees and that which will allow employees to have a degree of flexibility. That is why the government opposes the proposed amendment. The amendment is mischievous in seeking to imply that anything less than full compensation is not fair compensation. This is a bit of a semantic issue and, with respect, not necessarily one of substance.

To ensure bargaining results in fair outcomes, the fairness test will provide that protected award conditions can be traded in exchange for fair compensation. The legislation contains detailed provisions about how fair compensation is to be determined. Importantly, the fairness test allows the real value of non-monetary entitlements to employees to be taken into account. It does this by defining non-monetary compensation as compensation that confers a benefit or advantage on an employee which is of significant value to the employee. That is where those on the other side and the government disagree. We believe in flexibility and we believe that what may be fair and reasonable has to be weighed up in the particular circumstance of each individual employee, and it may vary quite considerably. Something may be of real value, for example, to a single parent who has no other family help in relation to children. To be able to pick up a child from school may be of absolute, vital importance whereas to another employee it may be a convenience but not a necessity. So each individual circumstance needs to be taken into account. That is the sort of flexibility that we have sought to bring to the legislation. It is the flexibility which, I note, those opposite condemn and oppose. That is fair enough, but we have seen the benefits of a flexible workplace system with more and more of our fellow Australians gaining employment. We do not want to see that compromised.