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

Under the new workplace relations system there will be no one-sided individual statutory agreements. Employees will be free to bargain collectively with the employer in good faith. Good faith bargaining obligations will be simple and effective and designed to enhance the bargaining process. They will ensure that the parties focus on the matters that need to be addressed in order to reach agreement at the workplace. They are about what is best for the workplace and for raising productivity. Fair Work Australia can decide disputes over the proposed scope of agreements, and arbitration will be available where parties disobey good faith bargaining obligations.

Work Choices gave no effective right to bargain collectively. The government’s new workplace relations system has enterprise bargaining at the heart in order to drive productivity. The Leader of the Opposition, on the other hand, has refused to say whether he remains committed to AWAs or whether he still believes that individual statutory agreements will undercut— (Time expired)