Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

It wasn’t in the bill originally, as Senator Williams helpfully points out. Yesterday I was contacted by Mr Steve Shearer from the South Australian Road Transport Association. He is a person who I have dealt with over the years both in my time in state parliament and since I have been here in the Senate, and I have always found him to be a very straightforward person to deal with. He expressed concerns about this particular amendment. His argument has been mirrored in part by Senator Williams. He said that there were very tough fatigue-management laws implemented nationally on 28 September 2008 and that the industry fully supports these laws. As I understand it, there is a concern, as has been expressed by Senator Williams, about the way that the New South Wales award provisions apply.

My first question to the minister is: can the minister advise whether the Deputy Prime Minister will amend the award modernisation request to make it absolutely clear that the AIRC can include safety terms where they currently exist but not otherwise? In other words, can she make it absolutely clear that for all jurisdictions other than New South Wales this will not apply, given that there are already existing occupational health safety laws in other jurisdictions? Can the minister confirm on behalf of the government in explicit terms that it is not intended for this provision to allow duplicate safety regimes to be included in awards? I have some more questions after those, but I would be grateful if I could receive a response from the minister on those two matters in terms of some very explicit undertakings that what applies in New South Wales will not apply in any other jurisdiction. I have some subsequent questions that are dependent on the answers.