Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Wong, the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Could the minister update the Senate on the government’s progress in developing a new, fair and flexible workplace relations system for Australia?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Brown, for the question. She, like other senators on this side, is committed to fairness in the workplace. We of course stand in stark contrast to those on the other side, who made it their mission when in government to strip away the standards that working Australians had in place prior to the election of the Howard government. Today the government reaches yet another milestone.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is interesting that they yell when we talk about fairness in the workplace. They on that side know that the Australian people fundamentally rejected—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! We will resume question time when there is order.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. As I was saying, they on that side know that the Australian people rejected their so-called Work Choices legislation.

Today the government reaches another milestone in the development of our new, fair and balanced workplace relations system. This is the modern, flexible, fair and simple workplace relations system that so many Australians, both employers and employees, voted for at the last election. Today the government has released a copy of the final version of our National Employment Standards, meeting our election commitment—10 minimum entitlements which will provide a fair safety net for all Australian workers. These standards protect maximum hours of work, the right to request flexible work arrangements, parental leave, annual leave, personal leave, community service leave, long service, public holidays, notice of termination and redundancy and a fair work information statement. Those on the other side might like to remember which of these were not protected when they were in government.

What are these standards all about? These standards represent key community standards, what hardworking Australians are entitled to expect—things such as notice of termination, four weeks annual leave, personal leave and protection against excessive working hours. These standards represent what employers have been crying out for: simple entitlements and simple rules. This is 50 pages of legislation for 10 minimum standards. That stands in stark contrast to what was required under the previous government—149 pages to explain five minimum standards.

These standards represent what this government considers important. In addition to simplicity and fairness, we want to make sure that employees who are parents can request flexible work arrangements from their employer, working families can access up to two years unpaid parental leave and employees have information about their rights and entitlements at work, and we want to support employees to volunteer in our community. A range of organisations have responded to this. For example, the Australian Retailers Association said:

The ARA has considered the National Employment Standards Exposure Draft and its implications on retailers—both large and small.  Overall the introduction of a NES will bring greater certainty and consistency in basic employment standards.

Unlike those opposite, this government clearly outlined our policy before the election. We did not hide our secret plans, like you did, prior to the preceding election. Unlike you, we put out an exposure draft for consideration and comment by the public. We did not develop our plans behind closed doors in secret, like you, and we have taken on board comments that were received by the government during the process. (Time expired)