Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Have a look at the Hansard of what you just said and also of Senate estimates. But when the Fair Work Act review was done—and I have made commentary about the panel itself and the skewed terms of reference in the past, so I will not traverse that—one of the important procedures of it was that people could make submissions. Those submissions were made public. After that, people could respond to the submissions made, so there was actually a bit of dialogue taking place. Where was that opportunity afforded when one ex-trade union boss had a chat with another ex-trade union boss to create these new senior vice-president positions in Fair Work Australia? Was the Law Council of Australia, for example, given the opportunity to respond to that suggestion? No, it was not.

What is more important is that we now, I think, have an understanding of why this legislation was introduced on 31 October and rushed through the House on 1 November, because it is now on the public record that the two country Independents might well have voted differently on the issue of the senior vice-presidential positions had they been aware of the Law Council concerns as they have been so articulately expressed in recent times. Can I say to the parliamentary secretary that that is once again an example of what happens when legislation is rushed through. Sure, you have whacked it over them and the country Independents are unfortunately in lock step with you—they will never let you go and they will keep you on life support—but they have now indicated their concerns about the 'jobs for the boys' that this scenario will create and the diminution in stature of Fair Work Australia as a quasi-judicial body. So one wonders why it was rushed through the House of Representatives, because these hapless country Independents voted for the government and the government's legislation only to find out that they have now helped pass legislation about which, according to the public record, they are now genuinely concerned.

The government will use their numbers in this place, as they did in the other place, and completely disregard the normal parliamentary processes and the proper consideration of legislation. Indeed, it was this parliamentary secretary—only yesterday, if I recall correctly—that was in this chamber moving government amendments to the government's own legislation because there were unforeseen consequences. Why? Because they had rushed it through the other place and did not want proper consideration, and then they realised that they themselves had mucked up their legislation and had to amend it. Here we have a similar situation where the House of Representatives was denied proper consideration and now some of those House of Representatives members are reconsidering their position—albeit chances are it is too late for them. I simply say to those country Independents: if you genuinely believe in what you said when you signed your lives away with Ms Gillard about a new paradigm of parliamentary process, ensure that it happens, because if you do not then you will be left with egg all over your individual faces, as has now occurred.

Can the parliamentary secretary advise us as to the cost of these changes that are to be made—these two new vice-presidential positions and the cost of changing the name of Fair Work Australia?