Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition supports penalty rates. We have been very clear about that. We support penalty and overtime rates as fair compensation for working unsociable and unpredictable hours. We also support employee choice. We support employee flexibility. We support employers and employees being able to negotiate amongst themselves what works best for them. The Fair Work Commission already has appropriate powers to safeguard penalty rates through the better off overall test. These are all given. These are all the facts. These are things we know. We have concerns in relation to this bill as to how it creates impacts on small business, the retrospective application of this bill, the ambiguities of its implementation, the impact on employee choice, the risk it poses to working from home, the effects of EBAs and IFAs, the mischaracterisation of loopholes, the impact on productivity and the risk of capturing in this bill legitimate above-award arrangements as an unintended consequence.

Australian small businesses are struggling. There is no question about that. It doesn't matter whether it's a business in retail or hospitality, or a business in construction, though those two are the ones that have the highest rate of insolvencies. That is a legacy of this government. That is a legacy of the Albanese Labor government. This government has presented over 35 significant changes in terms of legislation that impacts small businesses. That is roughly one per month since this government has come to power. That is an extraordinary impost on Australian small businesses and the way they operate.

This government held a productivity roundtable last week in order to find out how to improve productivity, because we understand that that, amongst many other things, is a major problem in this country. On the back of that, this week we have this bill in relation to penalty rates, which makes it harder for Australian small businesses to operate, because it creates yet another layer of regulatory burden, red tape and financial impost connected to that. The question needs to be asked: why? What is the actual purpose of this legislation when penalty rates are actually not under threat? The Fair Work Commission already has the ability and the remit to make sure that there are no impacts on workers in relation to preserving or protecting their penalty rates.

But what this bill actually does do is constrain the commission. It undermines its independence, and it risks unintended consequences in award variations.

Something that we need to have a clear understanding of in relation to this bill from the government is where the bill could operate retrospectively, creating uncertainty and exposing employers to union driven variations of existing awards. What does 'union driven' mean? It means that the union must be involved in those negotiations between employees and the employer rather than them sitting down together and having a discussion about what works best for them, having a face-to-face discussion about what the employee would like and how that works for the employer and how they're able to navigate that. It's a simple, basic sit-down discussion.

This is an even greater problem for Australian small businesses, who then have to engage in complex and costly negotiations that will likely involve an enterprise bargaining agreement and the intervention of a union, whether or not the employee actually wants that.

Evidence that was presented to the inquiry shows that small-business owners spend some 15 hours a week on compliance. Fifteen hours a week is 40 per cent of the regular working week spent on compliance. We need to pause for a minute and have a think about whether that is something that is necessary or if we have perhaps gone too far. I would suggest that we have gone too far. And, if we're looking for clues and some tips on what is causing the productivity issues in our country, that would probably sit in my top one, two or three. People are being prevented from working in their businesses, growing their businesses and creating stable and strong businesses so that they can actually employ more people by the impost of regulatory burdens, many thousands of pages of which have been imposed by this Albanese Labor government. That's something we absolutely need to address.

So my first question to the minister is around the consultation and the process. Minister, I would like to understand why this bill was introduced without meaningful consultation with small business organisations, which have expressly raised concerns about its impact?