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

This is a case where the supplementary question—and, Senator, I thought you would have been more experienced than that—was written out before they came into question time. If the senators on the other side had taken the opportunity to listen to the answer I gave on the government’s policy on right of entry, I provided that answer to you. But, if you missed it, if you were not listening or if in fact you ensured that your supplementary was not going to reflect what I had informed the Senate about, right of entry laws will balance the right of employees to be represented by their union with the right of employers to get on with running their businesses. Officials will not be able to enter an employer’s premises without giving proper notice. They must follow reasonable directions from an employer when they are on the employer’s site and comply with occupational health and safety requirements that may apply to the site. In addition to that, an employer must not hinder a union official— (Time expired)