Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Roberts, for those comments and for those questions. Certainly I am aware of the evidence in relation to Peter Marshall and the Victorian state government. I think you hit the nail on the head. What the Victorian state government are doing quite deliberately—and this is the reason we are proposing the amendment to the Fair Work Act—is utilising the Fair Work Act, and in this regard it is the agreement-making power, to circumvent their obligation under their own act, the Country Fire Authority Act, which specifically sets up the CFA. It is not and never was the intention of the Fair Work Act to allow a state government to deliberately abrogate and undermine its own obligations under a state act. So very much what this amendment does—as you have articulated—is ensure that the state government itself has to comply with its own state legislation. We are very much here today because of what the Victorian government is doing.

In relation to your comments on safety, this is one of the very serious concerns which the volunteer firefighters have been raising for some time now. Again, I go back to the letter that was written by Peter Rau, the Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, because he articulated in his letter exactly the point that you have just made—that he as the chief officer has to respond quickly and decisively to emergency situations. He as the chief officer is required to make strategic decisions to prepare for emergency situations. Anything that compromises that ability—you are right—does have the potential to impact upon safety. So you raise and articulate very clearly a number of the concerns that have been raised by the volunteer firefighters but also by the MFB themselves in relation to the impact of the consultation clauses that they have to go through in their agreement.