Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. I refer the minister to the ABS industrial disputes data released today, indicating an 800 per cent increase in the number of strikes in the first six months of the Rudd government compared with the first six months of last year.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The deputy leader having made her point can put down the chart.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What is the cost to the Australian economy of this massive increase in strikes?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for her question. I note before she was interjecting, ‘I know nothing.’ Never a truer word was spoken in this parliament.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Prime Minister will get to the answer.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will explain to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition—

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Explain this.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will. Let me explain it to you because you need to understand something about the workplace relations system. Let me explain to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition what has happened with the workplace relations system. People saw an avalanche or a tidal wave of extreme industrial relations legislation coming under the former government. Knowing that that extreme legislation was going to be put in place, people rushed to lock in their collective agreements before it took effect. As a result, many collective agreements were locked in at the same time and those collective agreements are now coming up for rebargaining. That bulge of numbers is the logical consequence of people seeking to beat the industrial relations extremism of the former government.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What is the point of order?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the member for Melbourne Ports will allow, I will give the call to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and she will have the opportunity to tell you the point of order.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister was asked the cost to the Australian economy of the 800 per cent increase in strikes—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The deputy leader will resume her seat. The Deputy Prime Minister will continue her response to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much. Let me further explain this matter to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. The figures clearly show that there are more collective agreements coming up for renegotiation as a result of this lock-in before Work Choices. Listen to the figures. The number of expiring collective agreements in the first half of 2007 was 1,676. The number of expiring collective agreements in the first half of this year is 4,948. Obviously that is a huge lift in the number of collective agreements expiring in this six months and coming up for rebargaining.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minster will resume her seat. We will continue when the House comes to order.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To further explain these figures, during 2008, we anticipate that a total of 8,239 collective agreements covering more than 770,000 employees will expire and come up for rebargaining.

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Simpkins interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I warn the member for Cowan.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In total, this is 43 per cent of the 18,985 federal agreements current as at 31 December 2007.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Julie Bishop interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will not use that chart again.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To further explain to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition something she clearly does not understand, when collective agreements expire there is a period of bargaining. Even under the extremism of Work Choices, during a period of bargaining—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on the point of order of relevance, this has nothing to do with the question that was asked. The question was: how much will this cost the economy?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister is responding to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When agreements expire, even under Work Choices people can engage in protected industrial action as part of the bargaining system. Therefore, the more collective agreements expiring in a time period, the more likely it is that there are people taking protected industrial action.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, this was a very specific question about what the cost of this strike action will be to the Australian economy. She does not have any idea.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Dickson will resume his seat. He knows that he cannot come to the dispatch box under the guise of a point of order to put another debating point.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just answer the question.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Dickson will leave the chamber for one hour.

The member for Dickson then left the chamber.

Under the precedents and practice of this chamber, the question has been asked. The answer in response to the question is in order in that it is going to matters raised in the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I again make this simple point because, obviously with the level of disruption from the member for Dickson, I do not believe it was heard: the more collective agreements that are coming up for rebargaining in a period, the more protected industrial action that may be occurring in that period, because the only time in which protected industrial action can be taken is when people are rebargaining for a new agreement. Obviously, you are seeing the evidence of that in the number of collective agreements coming up for rebargaining in the figures. I say to the opposition that under Work Choices you could have protected industrial action.

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, the Deputy Prime Minister is asked the question: what is the cost to the Australian economy of the eightfold increase in strikes under the Labor government?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister is responding to the point made in the question about the increase in industrial disputes, and she is in order.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was saying, under Work Choices you could take protected industrial action during a bargaining period. I do not know what is being suggested by the opposition here, but I take it that they have in contemplation a workplace relations system even more extreme than Work Choices. Presumably, under that system anybody who took protected action during a bargaining period would somehow be, what, shot? Is that what you want?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, the minister is wandering off on another tangent. She has not answered the question. She has been speaking for nearly five minutes and has not even addressed—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will resume her seat.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Presumably, we can conclude that, yet again, the opposition stands for something more extreme than Work Choices. These figures show a clustering effect of the number of collective agreements coming up for rebargaining. If the Deputy Leader of the Opposition spent five minutes analysing the issue, she would understand that. Of course, she is incapable of it.