Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, can I put on the record that the coalition absolutely supports safe workplaces. Any suggestion in the contributions of those opposite and those at the other end of the chamber that the coalition would stand in the way of safe workplaces is just absolute rubbish and political misinformation. We were very happy to support the four components of this legislation, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023, that were extracted from the body of the bill and put through this place. At the time, we congratulated Senator David Pocock and Senator Lambie for the responsible way in which they were handling this. There were four particular provisions contained in this legislation that enabled some really simple things to occur. They addressed some things that I don't think a single person in Australia wouldn't have supported. We congratulated Senator David Pocock and Senator Lambie on that.

Just to reiterate, those things were, first, making sure first responders didn't have to prove PTSD—because we know our first responders, day in, day out, are confronted with some of the most extraordinary traumatic situations—and to recognise that. Enabling them not to have to go through the process of proof at the first instance was something that we 100 per cent supported. In relation to silica based diseases: of course we want to make sure that Australians who are confronted with these often fatal conditions are getting the appropriate support, and to make sure there isn't a provision that allows a company that's downsizing to avoid their responsibilities in terms of their workers and adverse action against people who are suffering from domestic violence. They are clearly four quite simple but universally supported provisions that we were prepared to support, and we congratulated those senators.

But what we've seen now is a crossbench that is obviously up for sale. On the remaining provisions in the bill, the crossbench and the opposition agreed they were quite complex, potentially had unintended consequences that hadn't been fleshed out, as a part of the process of the bill, and required a proper and thorough inquiry to make sure that all the concerns of Australian businesses, Australian employees and the Australian community, and any of the consequences of this legislation, were able to be fleshed out before the more complex, complicated and sometimes more controversial components of the legislation were considered.

But clearly what's happened sometime over the last few days—who knows what the government have given to the four crossbenchers who have now changed their position in order to get their support—is that these four crossbenchers are prepared to have their votes bought. Only a matter of weeks ago they were absolutely 100 per cent indignant that the remaining parts of this bill required further scrutiny and they were not prepared to budge on it. Then, on the day before the Christmas break, they come in here and are happy to have their vote bought, and we'd love to know what that was all about.

The reality here is that this is a government who have had a terrible few weeks because they have ignored hardworking Australians for way too long, and hardworking Australians have become quite annoyed with them. So the government is trying to create some sort of smokescreen to cover up the fact that they're not focusing on the things that matter to Australians—the really important things like the fact that they can't afford to pay their mortgages, that they're struggling to pay their power bills, that every time they turn up to the supermarket their bill is higher than it was the last time they went. This government doesn't seem to care about that. They also don't seem to care about keeping Australians safe. They completely wet the bed after the High Court brought down a specific and individual decision on NZYQ and let 140-plus very seriously offending people out into the community, and we now see that four of them have already offended since they've been out there.

So we've got a government who seem to think it's okay to just smokescreen this by coming in with these IR bills. But the reality—a contribution that's been made on this side of the chamber—is that there are concerns with this bill as it currently stands today, without the appropriate scrutiny and without going through and looking at the unintended consequences that could come from some of these provisions. And you'd like to think that after a Senate inquiry the government would be prepared to listen to those concerns and maybe amend the bill to make sure these things don't happen. But no, it's just sort of, 'Happy Christmas unions, but I'm afraid everybody else in Australia has had their Christmas stolen.' Unless you're a union or a union member or part of the union or part of the Labor Party Friendship group, you've had your Christmas stolen by this legislation.

I'm sure we will see many organisations come out and highlight the faults that are contained in some of the provisions of this bill. Most particularly—having a look at my area of great passion, which is rural and regional Australia—we know that the National Farmers Federation have expressed extraordinary concern about the impact this is likely to have on farmers in our country. I will quote from the new president of the National Farmers Federation, David Jochinke:

We've consistently called out this Bill for being fraught with issues that will make it harder and more expensive to create employment opportunities in farming.

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Put simply, as it stands, it will create layers of complexity for small farming businesses.

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We call on the Senate to have the common sense to make sure this Bill as it stands does not go through.

Where was the opportunity for Mr Jochinke and all the farmers he represents to put their case forward, to explain to the government why these changes are going to have an impact on farmers?

We're all for industrial relations that make our economy more productive. We're all for industrial relations reforms that make sure the safety of employees is absolutely paramount. We're all for industrial relations that make sure we have a fair operating system in this country. But what we're not for is a piece of legislation being shoved through here with no consideration whatsoever for legitimate concerns that are being raised by organisations that are here for this exact purpose.

Not only the National Farmers Federation has expressed concerns but also the MCA. Today the government has declared war on millions of Australian businesses, particularly small businesses. This country runs on small business.

Small businesses are where the majority of employment is created. So if you are going to add additional burden, via the insult of this legislation, to small businesses, what do you think is going to happen? Small businesses will stop employing people because they simply can't afford to. Worse still, the biggest issue that's facing Australia at the moment—outside of the national security debacle we've seen unfold through the absolute knee-jerk reaction to the decision of the High Court by those opposite—is the cost of living. Just about every single piece of legislation that the Labor Party have brought in so far has sought to push up the cost of living. I'm sorry, but Senator Watt's idea of making Christmas hams cheaper is not going to make Christmas any easier for Australians. With this kind of legislation and this kind of action we're seeing here, the complete contempt and disregard this government has for Australians is once again on show.

While it very disappointing that we couldn't have industrial relations reforms that actually deliver benefits for all Australians, what we have seen today are industrial reforms that are going to benefit Labor's union mates. I want to know what you have paid to those at the other end of the chamber who stood so firm a few weeks ago. What have you paid them to buy them off so that they can come in and do a dirty deal that we know is likely to damage Australian businesses and push up the price of goods, and is not going to serve the majority of Australian workers, either?

It's a complete and utter insult to Australians that Labor would bring something in here and guillotine it, no less. We have probably one of the most significant and consequential pieces of legislation—700-odd pages of it that you have brought into this place. I'd like to know: what is the desperate rush? I would say that the reason for the desperate rush of bringing this through here is because they don't want this legislation to be scrutinised. If they had been happy to have this legislation scrutinised, if they were happy that there was nothing in this legislation that would cause the concerns that have been raised by organisations like ACCI and the MCA—there are a whole list of them who have already provided concerns, and many of them have provided concerns this morning. If they were concerned about that, and they weren't concerned that the concerns that have been raised by these organisations had any legitimacy then why wouldn't they let some scrutiny take place? Instead, at nine o'clock on Thursday morning, on the eve of Christmas, they bring this legislation in here and then they guillotine it. For a government that promised to come into this place and sweep clean with a new broom—we were going to have transparency, accountability and scrutiny—nothing could be further from the truth.

The reality is this legislation will impact negatively on Australian businesses—big, small and everything in between. It will create a greater level of complexity for Australian businesses. It will create extraordinary complexity for businesses and make it more difficult for them to be able to afford to employ new people right in the middle of a labour-market crisis. The No. 1 thing that I am told everywhere I go in Australia at the moment is that the main crisis facing Australian businesses is access to workforce, and now Labor are going to make it harder for them to get access to workforce. Not only that; they're making it more complex and removing the flexibility and choice from Australian workers. They're telling Australian workers how they have to be employed. They're telling Australian businesses how they have to employ their workers, and refusing those workers the choice and control over the decisions about how they want to be employed.

Nobody will disagree that Australian workers need to be treated fairly, but you can't have a one-sided argument where your workers are ignored, at the exclusion of those who are members of a union. Today is the day that the Labor Party gave a Christmas present to their union paymasters. All you're doing today with this legislation is making a bad situation worse. So I would condemn the government today for this unbelievably callous decision to bring and to rush this bill through this place. At the end of the day, you destroy all flexibility in our labour market by doing this. You refuse any scrutiny so that you can actually be held to account for the concerns that have been raised. This piece of legislation will have such a major financial impact on investment decisions in this country. Guess what? International organisations have a choice about whether they invest in Australia or not. What we're seeing here is something that is going to curtail investment, push up prices and give everybody, apart from your union mates, a worse Christmas.

Before concluding my remarks on this bill, I would like to move, at the request of Senator Cash, a second reading amendment, which has been circulated in the chamber:

At the end of the motion, add ", and:

(a) the Senate notes that:

(i) this is a devastating day for Australian businesses, with members of the crossbench siding with the Albanese Labor Government to pass through highly contentious labour market regulation before it receives proper parliamentary scrutiny through the Senate inquiry process,

(ii) the Government's new labour hire laws will substantially increase the burden and costs imposed on businesses using legitimate labour hire arrangements to meet demand surges or remedy staff shortages, and that these costs will be ultimately passed on to consumers in a cost of living crisis,

(iii) the Government's new labour hire laws are incompatible with a modern labour market that must be flexible, dynamic, and rewarding for workers, and

(iv) the Coalition support amendments which address small business redundancy exemptions, industrial manslaughter, protections against discrimination, wage theft, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency and first responders PTSD changes; and

(b) Part 6 of Schedule 1 (which abolishes modern and flexible workplace arrangements) and Part 7 of Schedule 1 (which gives unions unprecedented access to Australian workplaces) be referred to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 1 February 2024".

I condemn the government for its lack of concern for everyday Australians.