Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I too stand today to oppose this bill which is part of the government's attack on people's rights at work and reveals the government's true motives when it comes to industrial relations policy. Before the 2013 federal election, the government said that Work Choices was dead, buried and cremated. The current Prime Minister even signed a piece of paper with those very words on it—'dead, buried and cremated'.

But, just as the budget saw the beginning of the real agenda of this government beginning to shine through, we are seeing that agenda here with respect to people's rights at work. We hear repeated claims that the Prime Minister has learnt from his mistakes, that the era of good government is just starting. I think we are on day 3. Well, the Prime Minister and his government might have learnt one thing from the John Howard era of Work Choices, and that is that, if you come and attack people's rights at work, the people will fight back and turf you out. So, this time around, they are coming for Australians' rights at work in a way which is much more sly.

This bill works on one simple principle: 'We will come for the unions first so that there is no-one left to protect the workers when we come for them.' Through increased penalties and greater powers for the commissioner, it is claimed by the government and supporters of this bill that this bill will put corporations and unions on an even footing and that organisations of workers should be treated in the same way as organisations that exist to make profit. But this dismisses the clear differences between these organisations. Unions are required under the Fair Work Act and other legislation to be democratic organisations, but corporations are not. Unions are required to publish their accounts and financial returns online every year; proprietary limited companies are not. If the government were serious about putting unions and corporation on even footing, they could of course extend the current democratic and reporting requirements demanded of unions to corporations. But, no, they are not doing that. Instead, the government are saying to organisations that represent Australian workers, 'We reserve the right to micromanage you in a way that we would never dream of doing to a private company, but we will impose the same penalties on you that we might on a publicly listed company.'

The government fails to understand that organisations of workers do not exist for the same purposes as businesses. This is where the whole argument behind this legislation falls down. Businesses exist to make a profit. That is what they do and what they are judged on. Corporations law requires directors to act in the best interests of their shareholders and to continue to make a profit. Unions, on the other hand, exist to advance the interests of the people they represent. They advise Australian workers on what they are entitled to and enforce these entitlements. They stand up for Australian workers. They ensure that our lowest paid workers enjoy something approaching a decent income and quality of life. Unions fight for changes to our workplace laws not for their own benefit—and that is critical—but for the benefit of Australian workers. Unions fought for shorter working weeks. They brought us the weekend. Thanks to unions, we have penalty rates that mean that people working unsociable hours get a decent income. Unions got us annual leave. Corporations did not say, 'These are great ideas; let's give these to our workers'. Unions fought for them. In doing this, unions did not get a direct financial benefit. This is where unions and employer organisations are fundamentally different from profit-making companies—and it makes sense that they should be treated differently.

There is no need for this legislation. The current laws work. They prosecute union officials who get involved in union activity for their own personal benefit. The current laws are working. The motivation, in contrast, behind this legislation is clear. The government hopes to tie up workers and their unions in abundant amounts of red tape to stop them advancing the interests of the people they exist to look out for. There is no omnibus repeal day of red tape for unions from this government. The aim of this government, through this legislation, is to strangle our unions in red tape. This bill is a step towards the resurrection of Work Choices. The Greens will stand with unions and workers in opposing this bill.