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

I will just correct something you were referring to earlier. You asked me a question about the peak bodies. The legislation, as you correctly identify, talks about representative bodies; it does not talk about peak bodies. That is plain within the legislation. Of course, you then asked my personal view. This is in respect of the legislation and my answer was in respect of that, so I would kindly ask you to desist from verballing responses that you may think you have heard. My answer was quite succinct.

In respect of the decision, as I stated at the outset and continue to state, the legislation provides the best course of action for the minister to be able to select the representative body for both the employer and the employee, for the reasons that I have argued. It provides the flexibility for the minister to ensure that at any particular time and place they can choose the best organisation to represent the interests of the employer or employee on the particular issue that is before Safe Work Australia. That is the logical position to adopt.

Again, I am surprised that the opposition would choose one organisation over a range of organisations that may claim to be representative of employers. We could get into that argument between employer and employee organisations in particular areas, but in this instance the solution is to ensure that the agreement is met—and passing this legislation gives effect to the agreement. The legislation provides for the best outcome—that is, that the minister chooses the employee and employer representative bodies. That provides for the necessary flexibility, as I have said and will not reiterate again.