Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. Labor's proposed workplace changes represent the most radical shake-up of Australia's industrial relations system in decades. The Albanese government's new IR laws blatantly provide unions with the tools to show their workplace muscle. In my home state of South Australia, union demands and bullying are already rattling businesses and threatening investment and growth, particularly in the construction industry. In South Australia, the construction industry is a major employer of nearly 75,000 people. That's equivalent to 8.6 per cent of the total workforce and it contributed $8 billion to gross state product in 2021. Total construction work in 2021 in South Australia was valued at $14.5 billion, equivalent to 6.5 per cent of all construction work carried out in Australia.

This critical industry to the South Australian economy is being put at risk by this IR bill, which is turning investment and developers off financing building and infrastructure projects that employ many hundreds of South Australians. Among the developers to voice concerns is well-known Adelaide property developer Theo Maras, founder and chairman of Maras Group. He raised the risk to millions of dollars in investment and scores of jobs. His next project, the Rymill, a $27 million, 16-storey apartment complex, could be unviable amid instability and uncertainty in the sector. He isn't anti-union, but has said that a lower-cost state, such as South Australia, cannot compete with the eastern state wages and conditions as demanded by the CFMMEU.

Already, the CFMMEU is spending tens of thousands of their members' money to wrap an Adelaide tram completely in the CFMMEU slogan, 'A union of opportunity'. Their membership drive is up and running absolutely in South Australia. Trade union membership Australia-wide has been in a decades-long decline; it stands at 14 per cent nationally and 14.1 per cent in South Australia, as outlined in the latest ABS stats. We heard in Senate estimates that union membership will likely rise with the passing of this bill. Labor says that they stand for regulation, transparency and women, but not, it seems, when it relates to its union paymasters.

Recently, in the Senate Education and Employment Committee, a union aligned think tank organisation, Per Capita, told us that it draws the line at accepting donations from the CFMMEU because of its treatment of women. And yet Labor dances with them when it suits. Let me demonstrate the hypocrisy: during the SA state election, the Labor Party accepted and then later returned a donation of some $125,000 from the CFMMEU. This is bad for the economy. Master Builders SA has outlined that workers were being intimidated to join the CFMMEU, while builders were being pressured to agree to pay deals that could send them broke.

Business SA, the Australian Industry Group, the Motor Industry Association SA/NT, the SA Wine Industry Association and the Australian Hotels Association have raised concerns over this legislation. Business told those opposite their concerns and yet they were ignored. At a time when businesses are struggling with staff shortages and rapidly increasing power costs, this is yet another impost. There is nothing in the government's plan for the cost of living for Australians, let alone for businesses that employ them. Multi-employer bargaining will force employers to bargain with other businesses, who may even be competitors because they are deemed to be of common interest or reasonably comparable. We heard some outrageous examples of the potential to be caught by this legislation, with other businesses that might seemingly be similar but which are significantly different.

We all want higher wages in Australia, but there's no evidence that the IR reforms proposed by this bill will deliver higher wages or even higher productivity. In fact, based on comments from employers—the people who employ Australians, remember, not the unions and or the government—the evidence is quite the opposite. Earlier this month in my home of Adelaide, a group of union workers launched industrial action against a South Australian based crane company, vowing not to fold until they received a pay rise and better conditions. That type of behaviour is not conducive to constructive negotiations in any responsible way. Abolishing the ABCC does not help that. It was claimed that the union rejected a 16 per cent pay rise, instead demanding a pay rise of 25 per cent. The crane service employs 78 people.

And if you think that the Senator Pocock deal doesn't make this bad build better then think again. These minor amendments will do nothing to allay the concerns of small, medium and family businesses across Australia and in my home state of South Australia. Changing the definition of a small business from one with fewer than 15 employees to one with fewer than 20 goes nowhere near far enough and still includes casuals.

The other suggested amendments are minor and have no real impact on the overall bill. But let me tell you what we understand is the impact. This bill could affect 350,000 South Australians who work in the 145,000 small businesses in South Australia. The Albanese government's own modelling shows that small and medium businesses will have to pay between $14,000 and $80,000 in bargaining costs because of these industrial relations changes. There is a basic calculation error by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in the regulatory impact statement, which means the bargaining costs for medium business will be $5,000 higher than documented. That error means that medium-size business will pay over $80,000 when roped into multi-employer bargaining, rather than the $75,148 figure quoted in the document.

We know that the Labor Party doesn't have regard for business or the jobs it creates. But surely it must have been important to get the numbers right. This bill, in the very short time we've had to examine it, has been exposed as an absolute shambles, hastily conceived, designed only for their union paymasters. The coalition senators' dissenting report is the most accurate portrayal of this bill and what it will do to Australian businesses and the people employed by them. This dissenting report recommends that the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 is not passed by the Senate.

The Albanese government apologised to the Australian people for promising that industry-wide bargaining was not part of our policy before the election and then attempted to legislate it by stealth once elected. Australians deserve an apology for that. Labor speaks of equality and of supporting women back into the workforce, yet this IR bill will impact negatively, mostly on women. According to Workforce Gender Equality Agency data, women represent almost 57 per cent of the retail workforce across the nation. They account for 68 per cent of sales assistants, 75 per cent of checkout operators and cashiers, and 58 per cent of retail supervisors.

Retail told us about the likely impact of this bill. Women control 75 per cent of consumer spending, according to the Australian Retailers Association, and with their jobs gone the impact on family incomes will be dramatic and will only add to the cost-of-living pressures they are already experiencing. This is not what Australians or their employers need.