Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Abetz for that question. I would like to make the point that this is the first question we have actually had on workplace relations in six months—the first question from the Liberal Party and the National Party in six months. The government welcomes Total Marine and the MUA reaching a new enterprise agreement. We welcome that. The essence of the Fair Work Act is enterprise based bargaining, where the employer and employees, represented by a union if they choose, reach an agreement which is tailor-made for the needs of the business. Had the Deputy Prime Minister intervened in the dispute, as AMMA urged, this would have resulted in an imposed arbitrated outcome determined by the industrial umpire, Fair Work Australia, not an outcome worked on and agreed by the employer and employees. I will just repeat that: agreed by the employer and employees.