Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to wish you a happy birthday, Mr Deputy President!

The Qantas dispute has been widely known and public. There has rarely been a more public industrial dispute in Australia's history. The media has been covering it with intense interest over the last several months. It has been clearly known that the arbiter in this area will be Fair Work Australia. There has been no disagreement about that. The responsibility for industrial relations, for enterprise bargaining and disputes, must belong with the parties involved, in this case the Qantas management and the three unions that have gone public with a range of claims, all of which have been debated, discussed and reported in the media of Australia over the last couple of months.

As recently as last Friday, the Qantas AGM was covered in the media. You would have thought it was the most important issue of the day to have a look at what was happening with the Qantas board, the Qantas management and the public meeting. Through all that process, we had commentary and we heard from a range of people who were linked with various groups attending that annual general meeting, all talking about the future, all talking about change and many talking about the current industrial action. At no stage in all that coverage was there any discussion about imminent close-down action. At no stage was there any discussion about the need for an immediate referral to the Fair Work Australia arbiter.

What happened on Saturday has been covered in minute detail. I wonder exactly how this degree of detail has become so public. I am particularly engaged with the eight-minute process from the beginning of the call and all the actions that were taken. What occurred was that the CEO made what he has referred to as a courtesy call—and I like the use of that particular term, when we are looking at an industry that is so important for our nation and to people both here in Australia and overseas. He made a courtesy call to people with whom he had been in discussion many times over the last few months, to say that he and his board had made the decision to shut down all Qantas activity and not only to shut it down but to ensure that there was going to be no action. The announcement was made and apparently—I find this particularly interesting, and I call upon the media to ask some questions about this—there were safety issues about what could occur if this notification were made. There was an implication that Qantas staff members would then take some action which would make their airline, their employer and the people of Australia unsafe. I am really keen to find out more about that allegation, because I think there is a lot to be heard there.

The government is now using the Fair Work Act, legislation that I remember we took hours of debate to agree to in this place. The government of Australia, in its role as protector of Australia's economy, took an immediate decision to do that when it heard that the management of Qantas had decided in their role as employer to close down this monumental industry, regardless of the impact it would have on people in this country. We have heard heart-rending stories about the impact this decision has had. It was a decision not by the government or by the unions but by Qantas management.

The government, through the minister responsible for industrial relations, then took the matter to a hearing of Fair Work Australia to look at the issues and to find the best way forward. After an extraordinarily long session of Fair Work Australia—because the issues are complex; this is not a straightforward, simple dispute—orders have been handed down and the process now is back with the key parties: the employers and the unions. They have a set period of time to negotiate, which they should have been doing and have been doing. We have heard amazing details today in the media about what negotiations have gone on. We need to have the people involved in this serious dispute come together to come up with a suitable reaction. That is what is expected in industrial relations in this country, with the support and the intervention of Fair Work Australia. That should come as no surprise. Basically we need to rebuild trust in the organisation which Australia loves. It is not a government organisation. Qantas is not owned or run by the government; it is a private organisation run by a board— (Time expired)