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

Senator Abetz has visited these points on other occasions. He and I will both recall the last estimates, when I think quite a lengthy period of time was covered in relation to the name of Fair Work Australia. Senator Abetz, I do not know your understanding of consultation, but mine does not mean that if someone raises something it is adopted, but nor does it mean that if the government does not completely accept the proposition put forward to someone they have shown some blatant disregard of their point of view or they have ignored people.

During estimates we covered the name of Fair Work Australia. We traversed the issue that there were essentially two issues. One was a concern with Fair Work Australia's standing with respect to some of the issues that have confronted Fair Work Australia in recent times. The other one was a concern with the colloquial-type name of 'Fair Work Australia' and a view that 'commission' would be more appropriate. Apart from you, I am yet to hear anyone who has taken extreme exception to the notion that we retain 'fair work' and combine it with 'commission' to remove the colloquial aspect that has concerned some people.

These colloquial phrases emanated from the Howard government, as I recall. I fondly recall one particular piece of legislation—More Jobs, Better Pay. We ended up calling it the 'MOJO bill' because it was a sign of then Minister Reith's mojo. Indeed, the fashion of coining phrases and names like that for tribunals and organisations emanated roughly during that period. I certainly favour a move to the Fair Work Commission. Whether it is 'fair work' or 'workplace relations' is a different issue. There is some strength to the argument that we now have a Fair Work system involving, for instance, the Fair Work Ombudsman as well. There certainly is the view that the Fair Work system is more broad than simply the Fair Work Commission. Senator Abetz may or may not agree with those considerations. You might seek to make some cheap political points about the Prime Minister's vanity, but I think there are some quite solid arguments for why Fair Work Commission is an appropriate response to a variety of the submissions that the government received.

Senator Abetz, given your earlier comments, I should cover more broadly the issue of the consultation and, indeed, what is in this bill. Consultation occurred not only with respect to the processes of this parliament but also with the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council, where all of the provisions in this bill were canvassed over time. In relation to the response to the first third of the recommendations by the Fair Work review panel, members welcomed Minister Shorten's intention to introduce legislation in the near future to implement the first tranche of legislation in response to the review panel's report covering these matters.

The other matters in this bill, with respect to responding to Justice Ross's concerns about the name and standing and responses to the standing of the Fair Work Commission, are an important component of addressing some of those concerns, and I think all parties would be keen that the government respond to those issues. It might be to the political advantage of some people to continue to have the commission confronted with issues about managing their internal arrangements, but I think that all agree that in the longer term, for Australia's industrial relations harmony, it is important to have an effective commission operating, and that is indeed what Justice Ross is seeking to do in his recommendations both on the name change and on the appointment of these new vice-president commissioners.