Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move the following amendment:

At the end of the motion, add “and, in respect of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008, the provisions of the bill be referred to the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee for inquiry and report by 17 March 2008”.

What we have here is a government that wants to ensure that AWAs end today by ensuring that the committee reports back to this place by 17 March; then the report will be available for debate in the March sitting period. Almost three months ago the Australian people voted for change. They did not vote for the coalition; they voted for a change. In doing so, they voted for a change in our workplace relations laws. The Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008 delivers our key election commitment to the Australian people to change the workplace relations laws—the unfair laws that those opposite imposed on the Australian people which ripped away their conditions, took away the safety net and ensured they would suffer under the workplace relations laws.

We believe in a system which ensures that there is no place for AWAs, a system which has fairness at its heart. What the opposition believe in is a system that ensures that this unfairness and the rort under AWAs will continue. Up to the election you argued furiously for your workplace relations changes but you did not win the election. We have a clear mandate to ensure that AWAs end. This debate had an end point, and the end point was at the election. The passage of the AWA transitional amendment bill will ensure that it finishes in the March sitting. It finishes today.

We believe the opposition, particularly the opposition spokesperson on workplace relations, are now trying to pretend that none of this happened—that there was no election and that they did not lose it. Of course they did not win the election. What they are now saying is, ‘We will continue to have AWAs until such time as we think they should end.’ The Australian people have already spoken and have indicated that they should now end. What they are now saying is that they want a committee to continue on right up until 28 April and beyond so that employers can continue to enter into AWAs unfairly and hurt Australian people. They have clearly not heard the message from the Australian people in respect of this.

On the substantive matter, when you were in government you did not provide sufficient time for committees. You pushed through many bills by having short committee hearings: welfare to work, the IR legislation itself and the sale of Telstra. Again and again you put matters through committees but gave very little time to look at them. In this instance there is more than a month to deal with this substantive matter. It is not a complex matter; you will be able to deal with it in that time. I am sure you will also be able to listen to the employers and to the Australian people and hear that the matter of AWAs has now been dealt with. We will be able to get on with business in this Senate without your unduly delaying it and ensuring that AWAs continue to stay alive, because that is effectively what you are doing.

This government campaigned on the promise that we would take Australia forward with fairness without Australian workplace agreements. That was our promise to the Australian people and we will continue to ensure that that promise is realised in this place. We know your track record. It is a disgraceful track record. It is a track record that is mired and quagmired in AWAs and unfairness. It ensures that people will hurt under your AWAs. Be very clear about this: what you are now doing is ensuring that AWAs will continue; employers will be able to continue to enter into unfair AWAs past the time this bill could be debated in March and finalised. Every day after that you are going to ensure that it will continue. (Time expired)