Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier in the day in debate on one of the bills before the House I talked about entry-level jobs and a recent finding by the Fair Work Ombudsman on the Baiada chicken company. I quoted one of Mr Jason Om's reports on the ABC, where Deputy Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell likened what was happening in this industry to syndicated crime. Baiada is no small employer; it provides some 20 per cent market share to some of the major companies in Australia—Coles, Woolworths, IGA and many other supermarkets. It is very hard to buy chicken in this country without purchasing their products at some point. The statement of findings by the Fair Work Ombudsman about Baiada outlined what I think are some of the most concerning industrial relations practices I have heard of in my time in both the union movement and this House.

It is particularly concerning that there are employers in this country who seem to think that they can ignore this parliament and even an agency of the current government, Fair Work. The statement of findings found that Baiada refused permission for the Fair Work inspectors working on this inquiry to access the factory floor. They denied them an opportunity to observe work practices and talk to employees about conditions, policies and procedures. They also failed to provide the inquiry with any significant or meaningful documentation.

The statement of findings also outlines that there is, if you like, a cascading network of contractors and subcontractors. These contractors are paid per kilogram of poultry processed, rather than hours worked, irrespective of night shifts, weekends or public holidays. There were six principal contractors who then in turn subcontracted to at least seven other second-tier entities, some of whom subcontracted down a further two or three tiers—it involved some 34 separate entities in total. We have got a cascading set of entities, no written agreements and a model that relies on high levels of trust.

Other very concerning matters outlined in this statement of findings include noncompliance with a range of Commonwealth workplace laws, very poor or no governance arrangements by all the parties in the various labour supply chains, and exploitation of a labour pool comprised predominantly of overseas workers in Australia on the 417 working holiday visa. Exploitation in this area included significant underpayments, extremely long hours of work, high rents for overcrowded or unsafe worker accommodation, discrimination, and misclassification of employees as contractors—all very serious issues. Fair Work inspectors were also required to consult stakeholders like the Meat Industry Employees' Union, local government, the New South Wales Police, the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, labour hire providers and hostel owners.

What we have here is a very serious situation indeed. When you look at the findings on some of the subcontractors, you see, for instance, that last year the Fair Work Ombudsman received requests from the employees of B&E Poultry Holdings Pty Ltd which resulted in back-pay of more than $100,000 to the agency. But when you look at Mushland Pty Ltd, which was a company that was providing services, that company failed to disclose information specifically requested by the inquiry. Subsequently the phones of both the company director and the accountant were disconnected. And it goes on to say that that company went into liquidation.

We have a very serious situation in this industry. It needs to be cleaned up. This statement of findings requests that Baiada engage with the Fair Work Ombudsman to make sure that Australian workplace laws and other laws are not broken and are not flouted with such careless abandon. I seek leave to table this statement of findings, because I think it is important that it is in the parliamentary record.

Leave granted.