Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Ludwig. Can the minister inform the Senate of the benefits of the government’s Forward with Fairness policy and how this policy is redressing the imbalance between employees and employers under the former government’s Work Choices legislation?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Marshall for his question. I know that he has a great interest in the government’s new workplace relations policy. The Rudd government’s policy is not about giving power to employers or unions; it is about getting the balance right—something the opposition have taken a long time to actually come to understand. When they were in government they did not get the balance right. This government took an unprecedented consultative approach in respect of the policy to ensure that governments, players within the system, and corporations—both large and small—would have an opportunity to look at the policy and the legislation that has come forward.

Regarding the specific areas of the new workplace relations system, the government made a commitment in the Forward with Fairness policy on right of entry rules. We are delivering on that promise to ensure that only fit and proper persons are permitted to enter workplaces on behalf of unions and that they understand that their rights come with significant responsibilities. The new right of entry rules will allow unions to view non-member records as well as member records when investigating a breach. Unions will have access to these records only in cases where the records are relevant to a suspected breach of the law or industrial instrument, and there are strong protections in place to ensure that that right is not misused.

As outlined in Forward with Fairness, the low-paid bargaining stream is not in any way about pattern bargaining. It helps facilitate bargaining for those low-paid employees and their employers and it will also ensure that they receive the benefits of bargaining—something that the opposition did not allow the low-paid to access. It will help facilitate bargaining for those who are low paid. Importantly, compulsory arbitration is not a feature of the new system. The system is based on bargaining in good faith. (Time expired)

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for that answer. Can the minister confirm to the Senate that the specific changes the government is making to the laws governing union right of entry to workplaces will consider the rights of both employees and employers?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. I am pleased to be able to explain how our policy is far better than Work Choices. Even Mr Turnbull said that Work Choices is dead. The opposition’s Work Choices legislation permanently removed the right of unions to enter workplaces to hold discussions with employees. In our view, that was completely over the top. The Rudd government’s right of entry laws consider the right of employees to be represented by unions and to hold discussions and ensure the right of employers to run their business without interference. The government’s new workplace relations system will ensure that unions comply with strict entry conditions. The union official must hold a valid right of entry permit—a permit which is only issued to a fit and proper person; the permit holder must give at least 24-hours notice before entering; and the permit holder must, on the basis on which he or she enters, exercise that right— (Time expired)

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. I thank the minister for his answer to my supplementary question. Can the minister further inform the Senate on how the opposition is misrepresenting the government’s Forward with Fairness policy and attempting to distort the effect of Forward with Fairness?

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday the parliament heard a lot from the opposition about the government’s new workplace relations agenda. Most of it was inaccurate, anti-worker, anti-union and, quite frankly, fearmongering. Opposition members were in the House criticising the changes but told us that they would support the bill in the Senate, and we look forward to that support in the Senate. Liberal backbencher Mr Roberts, the member for Fadden, said that the government’s legislation breaks a list of promises, particularly about the union’s right of entry to a workplace. As I have outlined, that is completely inaccurate and misses the point. This is about ensuring that Work Choices is dead. It is about ensuring that this government’s agenda on restoring the balance to the industrial relations system is brought forward. The reforms in Forward with Fairness, presented at the last election, were decisively endorsed by the electorate, and the opposition should listen to what the electorate has said. The government’s promise in Forward with Fairness—  (Time expired)