Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to spoke on the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4 Yearly Reviews and Other Measures) Bill 2017, subject, of course, to Labor's proposed amendment in relation to the protection of penalty rates. I note the bill and other measures have the broad support of the Labor Party, unions and, most notably, also employer groups. In the consultation processes associated with the Productivity Commission's review of the workplace relations framework, a clear position was stated by employer associations and the union movement together that four-yearly reviews of modern awards ought not to continue to be a feature of that framework. The cycle of almost continuous reviews sits uncomfortably with the stated objective of the Fair Work Act of a modern award system that is simple, easy to understand, stable and sustainable. In addition, the Ai Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the ACTU have all unanimously agreed that the resource demands on the commission and the industrial parties have been substantial. I think I am safe to assume that we are talking millions and millions of dollars of resources of unions, employer organisations and the Fair Work Commission that have been taken up in these reviews of the modern award system.

Importantly, in speaking to this bill I think it's relevant to highlight the history surrounding the Australian industrial relations system and the ongoing public service provided by the trade union movement in seeking to uphold the wages and working conditions of Australian workers. I look forward to this opportunity to set out in some detail the work that, in particular, the union that I have been associated with, the SDA, has done in recent times in trying to ensure that the awards that apply to retail workers are robust and immune to attacks by employer organisations. Since the creation of penalty rates, we have seen attacks on these conditions and on workers and their unions expand and grow with the changing tides of the regulatory environment. We now need stability in the system.

I think it is important to reflect at the moment. Let's just look at the retail industry, which has been the focus of the Fair Work Commission's decision in respect of penalty rates. We are looking here at probably something in the order of 1.3 million retail workers throughout Australia. A very substantial proportion of those workers would be subject to the awards of the Fair Work Commission. We know that the SDA, the union that I have previously been associated with, has something like 200,000 members. The work of the SDA in protecting award conditions and mounting arguments in the Fair Work Commission to protect the award—

Debate interrupted.