Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If I have time at the end, I will return to the speech just made by Senator Abetz, because the speech made by Senator Abetz is the greatest nonspeech that he has made in this place for a long, long time. In the last three months, we have not seen one press release, one speech or one comment on this issue from Senator Abetz. Now, when there is a lockout caused by outside agents, he has plenty to say, but what he says is not about what occurs in the dispute and it is not about the facts; it is a nonspeech. Let us put the facts on the record, and I will make sure that I have a minute or two at the end just to respond to those points.

What do we know has occurred in this in the last few months? Senator Evans outlined the facts of what has been occurring. The government has been in constant contact with both sides in this dispute. It has been actively engaged in assisting parties to try and get a resolution on issues of wages, on issues of outsourcing, on issues of conditions and on issues of new enterprises to be set up in Asia. It has been going along to meeting after meeting, offering alternatives, offering ideas, suggesting compromises and offering suggestions. Never at any time in the last three or four months has Qantas, through its agents, or any of the trade unions requested the government to become involved at any other level than that of observing and giving advice. In fact, when pressed, as Senator Evans says, they have said: 'Not your role. We don't want you involved. We can settle our own negotiations.' So the government has simply done the proper thing when it has an act and a set of regulations: it has observed and offered assistance when requested.

What then did we have through that process? Depending on where you live, sometime on late Saturday morning or early Saturday afternoon we had a phone call from the Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Mr Joyce, to both Senator Evans and Mr Albanese, advising the government that with no notice, forthwith, all aeroplanes anywhere in Australia and all around the world would be grounded—and, if the information given to government should leak, Qantas intended to bring forward the lockout time. So it was clearly the intent of the company to bring operations to a halt, to cease operations in Australia and all around the world. Why? To exert pressure. And it did so in the most callous, brutal fashion. It said to people in Los Angeles, London, Russia, Asia, Melbourne and Perth: 'You can get nicked. You can stay there or you can find your own way home. If it takes 24 hours or 48 hours, so be it.' There was no notice. They just said: 'Make your own way. Get your own bus to the aeroplane. If you happen to be in a place like Perth, with tens of thousands of delegates and not a hotel room to be had for love nor money, bad luck—sleep in the parklands.' The message from the CEO of Qantas to Minister Evans and Minister Albanese was: 'Mind your own business. We don't want you involved. We're going to take unilateral action. If you're a passenger about to get on a plane who has spent something like $5,000 to $10,000 to get a trip overseas, then bad luck. Get back in the terminal and get home—or, if you happen to be in Perth or Melbourne, where hotel rooms are not available, then just suck it up, and in due course something will happen.'

As soon as that happened, the government became actively involved. A subcommittee of the cabinet was convened. The relevant minister was given authority to apply to Fair Work Australia for orders ceasing the industrial action. That was initiated within three or four hours. The discussions continued for something like 24 hours at Fair Work Australia, and this morning, I am advised, orders were issued. And what was the effect of those orders? Qantas went back to work. Employees were rehired. People could get back on planes. Planes are back in the air—which should have been the case all the way through. As Senator Evans said quite clearly, a blatant, callous, harm-intending lockout is the worst form of industrial action a company can take—equivalent to deliberate attacks on companies by unions in days gone by. We did not tolerate it then and we do not tolerate it now. The behaviour of Qantas in locking out its own employees for its immediate gain is something that should be condemned by everyone. So the government did the right thing. (Time expired)