Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Fair Work Amendment (State Referrals and Other Measures) Bill 2009. I say to the shadow minister: you had a national system that you aspired to, that you voted for, that you campaigned upon and that you still support, and that is named Work Choices. That is exactly the policy that we hear espoused by those opposite. It is the policy that the shadow minister simply will not mention, but that is the policy he believes in. The authors and the architects of Work Choices are there, still believing. It is still an article of faith, and it oozes out of every word, every dot, every cross and every full stop. It comes through what he has to say. That is what it is all about. It is about Work Choices. It is about opposing our policy. He cannot bear to say it but we know he believes it. That is what it is there for. It is ‘Work Choices light’. That is the national approach that he would have us adopt and that is what he did not say, but he believes it in his heart of hearts and all those opposite still believe it. That is the policy that they brought. That is their national approach.

We were elected to kill off Work Choices and we have done so. We are bringing in a fair, balanced and sensible industrial relations system and a national approach—Forward with Fairness. We said we would do this, unlike the previous Howard government who did not campaign on that policy of Work Choices and who subsequently brought it in. We said to the Australian people, ‘If you elect us we will do this.’ We said it as early as April 2007 when we released our Forward with Fairness policy and we released our transition implementation plan in August 2007 before the election, which was held on 24 November 2007. We were voted in by the Australian public on that platform. The transition to the Forward with Fairness bill was passed on 19 March 2008 with a down payment. It was a down payment on what we said to the Australian public—preventing Australian workplace agreements, bringing in a new no disadvantage test for future agreements and providing for award modernisation by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The Deputy Prime Minister originally requested that on 28 March 2008.

After much antagonism, angst and aggression from the opposition, we managed to get amended legislation through this House and through the Senate, but still with the integrity of what we said to the Australian public, for a commencement of the fair work system on 1 July this year, Fair Work Australia—a new organisation, a new enterprise bargaining system, a fair go for workers, a fair go for all, new industrial action rules, a new national approach and an approach that we were elected upon to deliver to the Australian public for the benefit of the national interest. It was also to benefit workers and employers, releasing employers from the complexity, the onerous provisions and the obstruction of Work Choices. What we are doing here is bringing in one national law for all. We want good faith bargaining at the enterprise level. We always supported it. Unlike the shadow minister, I have always advocated that Labor is the party of small business. Labor is the party to support small business.

We, not those opposite, brought in the Trade Practices Act to give small business a chance. Look at what we have done to help small business throughout Australia. In my electorate we brought in a tax break as part of our nation building and jobs strategy to support jobs. We have given assistance, and online assistance, to small business. One after another there are examples of where Labor has helped small business. The Rudd Labor government is lifting up, giving a hand, helping those in need, investing when those opposite would oppose it and increasing productivity. This is all being done with fairness at the workplace and is giving employers the opportunity to earn profits and also giving their employees the benefit of higher wages. That is what a fair industrial relations system is all about. That is the way you deal with employees in the workplace—negotiate at the enterprise level. We needed a new industrial umpire to oversee the system and Fair Work Australia is it. We needed a new education and enforcement body—the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The legislation here is all about taking another step, another stage, in creating a more simple, balanced and modern workplace relations system, and we are doing it in cooperation with the states. The Howard government’s idea was to override the states. They criticise us for being centralist. Mr Howard, the former Prime Minister, was one of the greatest centralists you have seen. We are working cooperatively with the state governments, Labor and Liberal—even the Western Australian government—on so many issues. The state referral stage is next, and that is what the legislation before the House is about. It is about bringing in the basis for a national system and allowing referrals by states to the national system.

We have some strange laws with respect to federalism in this country. For example, if you are running a business—say, a legal practice—be it as a sole trader or under a partnership arrangement, you are part of the state system in terms of your employees; you are not part of a federal system. But, if you decide to incorporate a legal practice—you are a constitutional corporation—you are part of a federal system. If you are a farmer, say, in the Lockyer Valley or the Fassifern Valley in an unincorporated family trust arrangement or in a partnership between the husband and wife, you are part of a state system in terms of your employees. If you decide to incorporate and you establish a corporate trustee over a family trust arrangement—a corporate trust that employs staff—then you are part of a company structure and you are subject to different laws and awards. It is a crazy system. It results in strange outcomes. It results in confusion and complexity and in people just putting their hands up in despair at the system.

What we need in this country is a uniform national workplace relations system. We need for the first time the same law whether you live in the Torres Strait, Tasmania, Palm Beach or Perth. We need the same law for all. We need minimum conditions, rights and entitlements regardless of state boundaries. The dingo fence should be gone. We should have the same law regardless of whether you live in New South Wales or Queensland or whether you are a corporation, a sole trader or trading as a partnership. That is what we need and that is what this legislation is all about. Victoria participated earlier this year in remaking its referral. We have seen Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland undertake this process as well.

I do not share the shadow minister’s concern about trusting the states with respect to this. States under this legislation can choose the extent to which they refer matters and can withdraw from the system. What would the shadow minister have us do? Would he decide to ride roughshod over the states in this regard? I do not think that is the way to go. I do not think that is what our forefathers, when they created the Federation of Australia, would have had us do. These are complex jurisdictional issues and I think we need to act in a constructive and consultative way to decide these issues. Regrettably, the Western Australian government have decided not to refer their industrial relations powers. Western Australia have done that in so many other areas, and I would urge them to reconsider their position. The coalition has been critical, but it has always been with the idea at the back of its mind that Work Choices may come back. That is what it is all about, and you can see that. I think the spirit of cooperative federalism is crucial, and it is obvious in the intergovernmental agreements we have achieved between the states.

There is provision in the agreements for employees to transition. We are talking about a 12-month transition from referral commencement. In that time we are going to see Fair Work Australia required to consider whether a modern award should be varied with respect to the incoming state employees and employers. We have been consultative with respect to various sectors. I know the shadow minister was very critical of us, but I can give you a couple of illustrations of local people who have contacted me and made representations with respect to these types of matters. We have listened and we have consulted. The Deputy Prime Minister wrote on 26 August 2009 to the President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in relation to the award modernisation request concerning horticulture, retail, pharmacy and call centre industries.

A number of people in my electorate have contacted me about these types of issues. For example, Tony Gibb, of Gibb Brothers at Peak Crossing, contacted me. They are a very large farming enterprise in the south of Ipswich, in the north part of the Scenic Rim Regional Council area. They employ about 90 people, nearly all locals, and are one of the biggest cauliflower producers in Queensland. Tony was concerned about the issue and approached me, and we had a discussion. I was pleased that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry went to his farm and discussed issues raised by him and other producers such as the directors and managers of Kalfresh, who are based in the Kalbar area in the Fassifern Valley. They came and talked about the challenges of people who run farms in that area. They are one of the biggest producers of carrots in Queensland. There is a saying that cauliflowers and carrots need to be harvested on a Sunday, so they were concerned about what we were going to do with respect to the modern award system. The minister listened to representations by people like the Gibb Brothers, Kalfresh and so many other farming groups around the country. That is really important in my view and it is certainly important to the agricultural sector in my electorate, which is a very large rural and regional electorate in South-East Queensland. Allowing flexibility with respect to seasonal demands and restrictions caused by weather was another issue. Making changes to provisions that take into consideration the perishable nature of produce is really important. I commend the Deputy Prime Minister for what she has done in that regard.

I also commend her for what she has done in relation to the retail sector. A number of people in the retail sector in Ipswich approached me concerning what we were going to do with award modernisation. Jim McKee, who runs a fantastic little cafe in Ipswich called the Cactus Espresso Bar, consulted me about these issues. I wrote on his behalf to raise the issues that he raised with me concerning award modernisation, particularly penalty rates, and the concern that he would have to lose staff as a result of the changes we were going to make. But the Deputy Prime Minister listened to the voices of people like Jim McKee and many others in the sector to make the variation more amenable. She wrote to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission on taking a more benign approach and having a more flexible arrangement to meet the needs of those employers in those sectors. I commend her for what she has done in that regard.

I am amazed and mystified that the shadow minister has expressed the view that this legislation should be opposed. It is always going to be a challenging task to modernise awards. We have over 4,000 instruments and we are trying to reduce those to fewer than 125 modern awards, so there will always be challenges. It will always be difficult to effect that change. But business is asking for this. Business is asking for certainty. Anyone who has been in business knows the challenges of running a business and how the federal industrial relations system that we have makes it more difficult. I was in business and a senior partner of a law firm for about 20 years, and I know how hard it is to run a business. As the shadow minister said, you take risks every day of your life. Your assets are on the line. I commend all of those nearly two million small business proprietors in this country, who take risks every day. They do show entrepreneurship. They do show the Australian commitment to a fair go. They are the kind of people who are the backbone of our economy. Four million people work in small business in this country, and they are to be commended. We want to make sure those businesses have flexible workplace relations and fair systems and that they deal with their employees in a cooperative and constructive way. That is what Labor is about. It is not about going back to class warfare. It is not about going back to systems that might have existed decades and decades ago. It is about ensuring that we get productive workplaces where profits rise, where employees’ wages rise and where everyone gets a fair go.

I say this: the coalition have always shirked when it comes to reform. Their idea is to bring in, say, a GST. Their idea is to bring in Work Choices. They shirk when it comes to the hard decisions. It was the Hawke and Keating governments that floated the dollar and brought in superannuation. We deregulated the banking system. We took the step of bringing in enterprise bargaining during the Hawke and Keating era. We are the party that support small business. That is demonstrated by our Nation Building and Jobs Plan. That is demonstrated by this legislation. We want to make sure we have modern awards and a system that cuts red tape, allows businesses to lift productivity and makes Australian workplaces places of a fair go. That is what this legislation is about. It is about working cooperatively with everyone.

I want to finish by quoting a good friend of mine, the Attorney-General of Queensland, the Hon. Cameron Dick, who was a very fine lawyer when he was practising at the bar. In stating that the Queensland government had taken steps to refer powers to the federal government, he said this in a second reading speech that he made on a piece of legislation in the Queensland parliament on 27 October 2009:

The Queensland government has not taken this step lightly and not without extensive consultation with Queensland employers and unions.

He went on to say:

… a national system can achieve comparable results, and that is why Queensland has taken the step to refer State’s power on this issue.

He went on to describe it, saying it:

… is a giant step forward in establishing a cooperative system that respects State rights, but also creates an overarching national industrial relations system which is in the best interests of business and workers.

I say amen to that. Cameron Dick, who is also the Minister for Industrial Relations, is absolutely correct. This legislation is good legislation. While it enhances the productivity and the profitability of business, it also creates a fair go in the workplace. It is another step along the road to a fair industrial relations system, a national industrial relations system and a productive industrial relations system. I commend the legislation to the House.

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