Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

There is no moral difference between a Liberal National Party redundancy and a Labor state government redundancy, Senator, and that is why we are taking a national approach to these measures rather than, as I think you suggested earlier, in this case specifically a cherry-picking states approach. Any observer to this debate, given the circumstances that have played out through at least a couple of the state governments, would understand the scale and magnificence that is relevant here. You referred to claims by the Queensland government that a significant proportion of the redundancies would be voluntary—I think there are many Queenslanders that might have a different view.

The government has been concerned for some time that announcements by certain state governments to outsource work and sell assets could unfairly impact on employees' terms and conditions of employment and their existing entitlements. That is why in September of this year, the government announced that it would amend the Fair Work Act to ensure that employees' terms and conditions of employment are protected where the transfer of business occurs between state public sector employer and national system employer. The government understands that business restructuring is a legitimate and often necessary task. However, the government does not accept that employees' terms and conditions of employment should be undermined or entitlements put at risk where the employer changes but the work stays the same.

The principle also applies to employees whose jobs are outsourced by state governments where employees in Commonwealth, Victorian, Northern Territory and ACT public sectors are already covered by the Fair Work Act and have had the benefit of transfer-of-business protections for almost three years. The bill is merely extending this benefit to other former state employees not of any political character in the remaining states. How can anyone take any serious issue with that?

Without these reforms, public sector employees in other jurisdictions are at risk of losing their existing terms and conditions of employment negotiated in good faith because of a decision by a state government employer to sell assets or outsource work, many recent announcements of which have occurred. That is why this bill is necessary and a priority for the government.