Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

If the Prime Minister spent a bit more time in the country and was able to tell Australian senators and the parliament how to vote, rather than going over to the United States and trying to tell the congress how to vote on issues, we might not be in this position. I think what we have in the intergovernmental agreement is somewhat arrogant. In schedule 1, clause 3, we are told ‘the legislation will’ and it then sets out certain matters. What that basically suggests is that six Labor premiers, two Labor chief ministers and, I would assume, the Labor Deputy Prime Minister got together to make a deal and will now try to foist it on all their parliaments without having a sensible discussion. I suppose the question that arises is: would it unravel this agreement, Minister, if any amendments whatsoever were to be proposed? Would the inclusion of objects unravel this legislation and, if so, would that start the ring-around? If it would, you might as well do a job lot and do a ring-around on all the amendments that this Senate might be minded to pass.

Quite frankly, I would defy any Labor Deputy Prime Minister, Premier—indeed, Premier Barnett in Western Australia—or Chief Minister to explain to the people of their state why there should not be three representatives of workers organisations and three employer representatives on Safe Work Australia. On my maths, that would make a body of 16 rather than 14 people, and the ‘social partners’, as they are called in this politically correct language, would only have six—