Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) Share this | Hansard source

It is disgraceful. It is entirely disgraceful. It is taking advantage of an industry that is in crisis and is desperate for assistance. It's a shameful and cynical play by a government that has put politics over planning in the middle of a national emergency. This is their priority. Smirks and sneers don't save jobs and they don't keep companies running. At a time of crisis, the Labor government has nothing to offer Australians but low acts, when it should rise to the occasion.

This bill would amend the Fair Work Act 2009 to allow the minister to determine that a road transport contractual chain order application, which we will refer to as an RTCCO, is an emergency application. This means that a process that would normally take a number of months will be fast-tracked so that an application can be put on the top of the pile; it's pretty much that simple. An RTCCO, as currently available under the act, can set minimum standards to which road transport contractors, road transport employee-like workers and other persons would be entitled, and the bill would allow an expedited timeframe in the Fair Work Commission to consider an application.

This is the second measure that the government has come up with in the fuel crisis that will have immediate effect, and it still doesn't alleviate the pain that is being felt and faced by millions of commuters or solve the pain price faced by transport. It doesn't cut a tax. It won't reduce your petrol prices. It won't deliver a litre of fuel. At best, what it will do is shift costs up and down the supply chain, and someone at some point is going to have to pay. The coalition has called on the government to immediately halve the fuel and diesel excise for three months, with a corresponding reduction in the heavy vehicle road user charge. These measures would provide immediate relief. They would actually make a difference. But the trucking industry says that the excise alone is insufficient to mitigate the scale of current costs.

RTCCOs were provisions that were introduced by the government through the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Bill 2023. The coalition opposed that bill at the time, but the measure has been in effect since February 2024. Under the current scheme, RTCCOs are made by the Fair Work Commission following an application from somebody within the supply chain, or their representatives. The RTCCOs set minimum standards to which road transport contractors, road transport employee-like workers and other persons would be entitled, and include things like rate reviews, cost recovery, fuel levies—a very important one—payment times and determinations. The Fair Work Commission would ordinarily need to provide a six- or 12-month consultation period—a consultation period that was specifically requested by the industry, I might add, during the closing loopholes bill consultation—before a decision is made on what an RTCCO would like look. Since the introduction of this measure, the Fair Work Commission has heard—wait for it—one application for an RTCCO. A decision hasn't even been made yet on that one application, but somehow this is an urgent issue that needs to be dealt with today, without appropriate scrutiny.

The coalition asks the questions: Why is this measure not temporary? If it is in fact an emergency measure, why has the government brought us legislation that will make permanent changes to the Fair Work Act? Why should the emergency power not be limited to the issue of fuel alone? Why is it expanding out to other things in those minimum standard orders, other than just fuel levies? The transport sector is clearly experiencing temporary but acute pressure as a result of the fuel crisis specifically. The sector has called for several measures, not just this, including powers to deal with fuel levies, excise rates and the road user charge. The coalition has announced and responded to those requests. This bill's measures have some support but hardly the level of other more immediate, tangible options that Labor could equally implement today. But this, an industrial relations measure, is the one that they've decided is the most important. This is the one that they've decided is urgent. This is the one that they've decided deserves no scrutiny by government.

Let's be really clear. We should acknowledge the fragility of the sector. The provisions that have been called on today are being called on by companies that are genuinely in distress. ASIC data has shown that more than 2,050 transport, postal and warehousing sector businesses have entered insolvency since May 2022, and it's currently at a rate of two businesses every single day going insolvent. Average insolvencies have been increasing year on year under the Albanese government. It was 16 per month in 2021-22. It was 29 per month in 2022-23. It was 41 per month in 2023-24. It was 61 per month in 2024-25, and it was 64 per month on average from January 2025 to January 26. Wow. This is how many businesses are going insolvent under Labor.

The bill before us today takes a very broad definition for the minister to determine the circumstances under which the powers can be used. The critical component of the definition relates to an event or a circumstance having: 'A significant national negative impact on the road transport industry'. This is entirely inconsistent with how other acts define emergencies for sectors where ministerial powers can be used. The coalition wants to understand and wants to ask the question of whether the ministerial powers should only be used if other determinations defining a national emergency are in place, and we'll be moving amendments to this effect.

It is also somewhat concerning that these powers do not have a sunset provision—a provision to enable an automatic review. In briefings, the government has outlined that, while this is a temporary crisis, having these provisions as a permanent feature of the act will mean that they do not need to be legislated for again at the next crisis. The coalition would ask why temporary measures are not more appropriate. They would allow the government to review the effectiveness of provisions and return to this parliament again at an appropriate time to fully consider their operations. We'll also be moving amendments to this effect, noting that we will not prevent this measure from providing the relief that it intends.

During industry consultations on the closing loopholes legislation, ensuring adequate processes for the transport sector consultation—including with what has become the Road Transport Advisory Group—was a key safeguard that was negotiated by peak trucking organisations. This bill expedites the consultation on RTCCO applications, which represents a lessening of the effectiveness of those safeguards. The coalition would ask why the government has not included a requirement for even minimal consultation when these powers are used. We will also be moving amendments to ensure that this occurs.

Finally, we are very concerned that the measures are not limited to just fuel. It would mean that the minister could use these powers to allow for commercial arrangements such as payment times, rate reviews, terminations and cost recovery mechanisms to be looked at also. That doesn't sound like an emergency to me. That sounds like a commercial contractual arrangement between two consenting entities, but we know that the government would love to get its hands on that. The minister has failed to identify why this is necessary in a fuel crisis. We'll be seeking to make amendments to restrict the use of these powers to matters related to fuel alone. If this is a response to a fuel crisis, let's not allow the minister to expand their remit to embrace and encompass other issues that would be convenient to a Labor government.

This bill has been introduced and brought on for debate outside the normal course despite there being plenty of time available for proper parliamentary and committee processes. There is no obvious reason why the parliament should be asked to truncate scrutiny on a permanent amendment to the Fair Work Act when ordinary mechanisms remain available and passage is still available this week. If the government believes their case is strong, they should be prepared to test that case through the usual processes and not shortcut it. This is particularly important where the bill expands ministerial powers and accelerates the Fair Work Commission processes.

Rushed debate reduces transparency. The parliament should not be asked to legislate first and ask questions later. The government says this responds to an acute fuel crisis, but there is still time available to allow those processes to occur. The government simply cannot claim both that it is a targeted response to a temporary situation and that the parliament has no time to examine the permanent change properly. It's not a short and temporary fix; this bill would make a permanent change to the Fair Work Act. If the stated problem is temporary, the parliament should ask for a temporary position. A sunset clause and an automatic review is not an unreasonable request. Permanent powers introduced and enforced in haste are rarely good law. The crossbench, we would ask, should not kid themselves. Without the processes we are paid to undertake by the taxpayer, we know there will be likely unintended consequences.

The opposition's amendments go some way to allowing this bill to pass while ensuring we provide ourselves with opportunities to review those measures later. We are conscious of the fact that there is broad support for some of the actions in this bill, and we will make sure this bill passes to ensure that those in the trucking industry do not suffer under positions of this government. However, there is more that needs to be done, more that can be done and more that should be done. I now move our second reading amendment that has just been circulated in my name:

At the end of the motion, add "and, following passage of the bill, the following matter be referred to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 29 May 2026:

The operation, effectiveness and implications of the amendments made by the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Act 2026".