Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lingiari for the question—somebody who knows that whether workers are in the cities, the regions or remote areas, it's about time they had a pay rise. I thank the member for the question. It's clear from the negotiations that have been going on for some time, and that continued over the course of the weekend, that this week the secure jobs, better pay bill will become law.

I want to take the House through some of the amendments that have been agreed to by the government in the negotiations both with the Greens and with Senator David Pocock. While consultation continues with all crossbenchers, I want to go through what has now been agreed and what secures passage of the bill. I thank the member for Melbourne and Senator Barbara Pocock for the negotiations that have been taking place, which will lead to amendments that make sure—with respect to some further amendments to the 'better off overall' test—that it will still be becoming simpler and fairer. These specific amendments will make sure there is no a guarantee that no worker can be worse off. I also acknowledge the amendments on something Senator Barbara Pocock has pushed for a very long time which is to improve flexibility at workplaces, including arbitration on unpaid parental leave.

The amendments to the bill that Senator David Pocock has pursued go to a few areas, but many of them focus on the impact on small business. Taking the single-interest stream small business exemption from 15 to 20 employees means that 97½ per cent of Australian businesses are excluded from that stream, if they want to be excluded, but obviously the right to opt in remains there. There'll be a statutory review of the legislation within two years of the bill passing. I note that in two years we'll know whether or not Senator Cash was right and whether Australia has in fact been completely shut down, but we're bravely waiting two years to have the statutory review. There'll be an increase from six months to nine months from the expiry date, where there's a history of effective bargaining, before an employer can be brought into multi-employer bargaining. In the single-interest stream the Fair Work Commission will have to be satisfied that the various employers within there are reasonably comparable. Similarly, there will be an easier way for employers, if they don't want to be part of a multi-employer bargain, if they have fewer than 50 employees, to have that case have to be made by others to the Fair Work Commission, rather than the onus being on them.

All of these different ways basically mean the 'sky will fall in' argument from those opposite, while I know they'll continue to make it for the rest of the week, people know is not true. (Time expired)

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