Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the opposition I rise to oppose the Fair Work Amendment (Respect for Emergency Services Volunteers) Bill 2016. We do this because the legislation is ambiguous, it is unclear and it is imprecise.

This legislation was designed to give the coalition a political weapon during an election campaign. That is simply what this bill is about. If you are wondering what the situation is in terms of the proposed enterprise agreement that was the genesis of this bill, all you have to do is go to the words of the CFA chief fire officer, Mr Steve Warrington, who was unequivocal in his view that the proposed EBA would not impact the CFA's firefighting abilities. He stated:

I am really confident that, during a firefight, operations will not be compromised.

What is this about? The chief fire officer is saying that operations will not be compromised, yet we have heard all of the argument from the Prime Minister, from Minister Cash, in relation to what a terrible thing this agreement would be. Yet the chief fire officer in Victoria said:

I am really confident that, during a firefight, operations will not be compromised.

Not only is this bill ambiguous, unclear and imprecise; it goes to a number of fundamental issues in terms of both the state legislation and the federal legislation. Every senator in this chamber who truly believes in state rights must vote against this bill. This is clearly an attack on state rights. Every senator who claims to support small government must vote against this bill. Every senator who has argued against government red tape—and there are plenty of them over here—must vote against this bill. Every senator who has argued against undue government interference against individuals and businesses should vote against this bill. Every senator who wants a sensible, sustainable and fair resolution to the Victorian firefighters dispute must vote against this bill. Every senator who wants the focus of all Victorian firefighters, both volunteer and career, to be on the upcoming fire season in Victoria should vote against this bill.

This bill was created for a political advantage for the coalition in the election campaign. The bill will not resolve the dispute that exists in Victoria. The bill is not about the safety of Victorian citizens. The bill is not about recognition and respect for volunteer firefighters. The bill is not about resolving an industrial dispute. The bill is about base politics from Prime Minister Turnbull, a PM who is out of his depth, indecisive and inept. On the basis of the expert evidence that came before the inquiry, the bill will lead to delays, confusion and another layer of uncertainty. That is the last thing you need, going into a firefighting season in Victoria—delays, confusion and uncertainty, and more animosity being built up for political purposes by the Prime Minister and the coalition against the firefighters who happen to be paid firefighters and operate under an enterprise agreement.

This bill will simply reignite a dispute that was resolved between the employer and the employees before the intervention of the Turnbull government. This is a bill dreamt up by a weak, embattled Prime Minister in the middle of an election campaign. That is all it was—a weak, embattled Prime Minister looking for any issue to try and get the focus away from his flagging electoral campaign. This bill was designed to appeal to the public, to the CFA volunteers and to the right wing of his party. Any chance to come after the trade union movement is always something that the coalition will be in—they will be in that right away. That is what this is about.

It was the height of political cynicism and opportunism to inject the Commonwealth government into a dispute that was on its way to being resolved. The tired, old anti-union rhetoric used by some of those giving evidence to the Senate inquiry exposed their lack of understanding of how workers collectively bargain. Their rhetoric also exposed their underlying political opposition to collectivism and enterprise bargaining. It was no more so than for the former board members of the CFA in Victoria. So the bill has nothing to do with the safety of the Victorian community or the safety of volunteer and career firefighters in Victoria.

The men and women who make up the volunteer and career firefighting capacity in Victoria regularly put their personal safety at risk to ensure the safety of the community. To engage in divisive, uninformed political rhetoric for personal political gain, and to use firefighters as a political football, is another low point in this Prime Minister's uninspiring and weak leadership. I am concerned but not surprised about the coalition's political vilification of career firefighters. These firefighters and their union, the UFU, have addressed in the agreement recommendations from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. That is part of the reason it is so big. It is part of the reason it took so long to deal with the agreement. There are serious issues facing firefighters every time they go out on a job. Every time they go out on a job they put their lives at risk. So these are the reasons a firefighter's agreement may not be the same as other agreements that are put through the Fair Work Commission.

Career firefighters are seeking to have a say in how they respond to fires. They want to respond in a manner that maximises their safety, as well as protects lives and property. They are seeking to ensure that agreements between the CFA and career firefighters relate not only to their wages and conditions but to their safety and to the equipment that they use—the equipment that is so important to their capacity to go to a fire, fight a fire and go home to their families safely. These are legitimate issues for firefighters to be concerned about in their industrial instrument with their employer. Career firefighters who place their lives in danger to protect the community are entitled to documented, enforceable health and safety conditions in their enterprise agreements.

I will just make the point that Senator Xenophon seems to be on the public record supporting this. It seems to me that, for the first time in my knowledge of Senator Xenophon when it comes to health and safety issues for working people, Senator Xenophon would put politics before the health and safety of workers in this country. That is what the Xenophon team will do if they support this bill today. This bill is simply about allowing managerial prerogative at the expense of the safety of firefighters in this country.

Career firefighters are responding to years of ineptitude, cover up and anti-union activities by the former CFA board. The previous board failed to create a culture of trust, cooperation and mutual respect. From what I can read into the evidence to the Senate inquiry, the previous board was driven by political and ideological bias. That made negotiations protracted, difficult and eventually unsuccessful. The health and safety of individual firefighters was put at risk by the previous board as a result of poor decisions on firefighting infrastructure, personal protection equipment and safe workplaces. Is it any wonder the firefighters wanted documented and legally enforceable clauses in their agreement that would protect their lives, protect their safety, when they went on a job? No, it is not.

The argument from coalition members and the leadership of Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria—that many of these matters should be the prerogative of management and contained in operational procedures—demonstrates a lack of appreciation of the dangerous nature of firefighters' work. It also ignores the failures of the board to make proper decisions on a range of important issues. In the case of the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria leadership and the previous board leadership, I find this extremely concerning.

The UFU, the firefighters union, is obliged to consult with its members, listen to its members and act in the interests of its members. The UFU must also ensure that membership concerns on wages, conditions, processes, procedures and equipment procurement are dealt with by agreement, negotiation, conciliation and, as a last resort, arbitration. These are rights afforded to all Australians under the Fair Work Act. The bill is designed to frustrate or remove these rights from Victorian career firefighters. The priority for political leaders must be to assist in the resolution of this dispute in a fair and equitable manner. This bill does not do that. This bill will never do it, because the bill is a political instrument, designed for political advantage for the coalition, at the expense of Victorian firefighters, at the expense of Victorians, who rely on those firefighters for their safety.

It is one of the worst acts of political fighting against workers that I have seen in this place, where the coalition would put aside the needs of the Victorian community for their own political benefit. Real leadership entails ensuring the protection of all Victorians, including volunteer and career firefighters, through the provision of professional, efficient and effective firefighting services. That is what this agreement does. The agreement is the focus of this bill. Do not let anyone pretend it is about volunteers. It is about the agreement and it is about ensuring that workers' rights are stripped away, as this lot always want to strip away workers' rights.

I do not have time to traverse all of the issues raised during the two days of hearings into the bill, but a number of issues stand out, not limited to these. First are the concerns raised by the royal commission into the 2009 Victorian bushfires, including concerns about organisational factors inhibiting the fire authority's response on the day and the fact that the metropolitan fire district does not reflect metropolitan Melbourne. I found it pretty hard to understand how the Victorian CFA operated, given that there is clear delineation in New South Wales between career firefighters and bushfire firefighters. The royal commission's conclusion was that the way the three agencies are currently structured did not contribute to their collective maximum potential on 7 February. The royal commission says there are problems with how the CFA operates. The UFU are trying to deal with some of those issues in their agreement. So any senator who stands up and says, 'The agreement's too long; the agreement took too long to negotiate; it's too complex; leave it up to the boss,' just does not understand the issues that came up in the Victorian royal commission.

There is a need to clarify responsibilities and improve integration and coordination amongst the agencies. That was a conclusion of the royal commission. That is part of the agreement that has been signed off by the new board and the new chief fire officer in Victoria. They said there was concern over the sustainability of the current volunteer structure and the structure's capacity to provide efficient services in expanding population areas.

This is not the fault of Victorian volunteer firefighters. This is just a clear example of what is happening with urban growth in Victoria. We are relying on volunteers, who may not be there when a fire takes place in what are described as peri-urban areas, and that is not sustainable in the future. There will have to be a close look at this long-term structure of the CFA in Victoria arising out of the royal commission report.

I am also concerned about the politicisation of the previous CFA board and the poor decisions of the board in relation to health and safety and industrial issues. No-one should just think this is about a union. This is about a board who were politicised, who did not want their workers to operate under a collective agreement. That was the position there. And they did, in effect—