Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, my limited recollection of the case law on coercion is that simply proposing to take protected industrial action does not amount to coercion. I mean, whether we're talking about employers or employees, given that the current legislation that your government presided over allowed for protected and industrial action to occur, albeit with significant constraints around it, the mere fact that that is provided for in the legislation would suggest pretty strongly to me that that does not amount to coercion. What the explanatory memorandum is trying to say is that coercion could, for example, be unprotected industrial action, unlawful intimidation or threats. I've been reminded that the leading case on the meaning of coercion in this context is the Esso decision, and that found, essentially, that coercion needs to involve negation of choice and the use of unlawful, illegitimate or unconscionable means.