Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens were rock-solid, as was the government—and I commend the Deputy Prime Minister and my colleague Senator Rachel Siewert—that small business should be defined as 15 employees. My colleagues on the crossbench Senator Xenophon and Senator Fielding insisted along with the coalition it should be 20. What has changed here today is that my colleagues Senator Xenophon and Senator Fielding have given way on their stand on 20 and agreed with the Greens and with the government that it should be 15. That is the salient difference between last night and tonight. And I congratulate my fellow cross-benchers on having made that determination because with it comes a raft of very important gains for workers in Australia.

The government went to the election on its Fair Work legislation. Today, if the vote we are going to see in the next hour or so comes as expected, we will see fulfilled the vote of the people in 2007 which put the Howard government out of office over Work Choices and brought the Rudd government into office over Fair Work. That was a mandate and that is what the people will get. The definition for small business relating to unfair dismissal laws will stand at 15. It will stand at 15 because the Greens were not prepared to relent on that and nor were the government.

The Greens were also insistent—and I have a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister, which I will table shortly—that the Senate amendment seeking to restrict the content of enterprise agreements in relation to independent contractors not stand. We did not want to see workers undercut by arrangements with contractors. The government also agrees to discuss with the Greens refinements that can be made to the small business dismissal code which will make it clearer that the employer is required to provide evidence that a warning has been given. Very importantly the government has also supported the proposal put by the Greens to extend the time limit for lodging unfair dismissal applications from seven days to 14.

I have a list of amendments which the Greens have been able to negotiate—again and again I have to congratulate Senator Siewert and the Deputy Prime Minister, and now the Senate, for this outcome. They are: new provisions for flexible work for carers of children with disabilities—so there should be; a review by Fair Work Australia of the right to request flexible work—that is an important provision; an interim review by Fair Work Australia of modern awards; and a provision to support employment law services in Australia so that people who believe they have been treated wrongly will have access to legal backup. On the matter of pay equity, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations is currently conducting an inquiry and the government agrees to consult with the Greens in respect of the committee’s considerations. The government also agreed that the Fair Work Ombudsman will prepare a guide on pay equity issues as part of the new functions to be detailed in the government’s amendments to the bill. And the conscientious objection certificates, which gave the Exclusive Brethren sect specific provision to be able to exclude unions from their workplaces—and it was their workplaces only—have now been removed from the legislation.

I want to commend Senator Xenophon, Senator Fielding and Senator Siewert for the flexibility they have shown that has allowed this outcome through working together. The coalition is left out of this at this stage. Also I want to commend the Hon. Julia Gillard, the Deputy Prime Minister. We have found working with her in this last period to be constructive, to be direct, to be honest, to be forthright and ultimately to have made this agreement possible.

But, finally, I want to say this to the workers and the voters of Australia: you made your feelings known in 2007; this government has stuck to its guns, and so have the Greens. This outcome will benefit working Australians and Australian working families. That is the ultimate test. It would have been an appalling thing for the opposition to have had its way and for people to be forced back to the polls again on the very matter they determined in November 2007. The common sense of the Senate has prevailed, and this is a much better outcome for the people of Australia.