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The Hon. IAN WEST: I address my question to the Minister for Industrial Relations. What will be the impact upon New South Wales of changes to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as detailed in the Federal Government's WorkChoices document?
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: I thank the Hon. Ian West for his question and commend him for his ongoing interest in industrial affairs. The Commonwealth Government's inappropriately named WorkChoices proposal takes the axe to the independent umpire, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission—or, at least, what is left of it. The Commonwealth Government has retained the commission in name only, but will gut its powers and its role.
Hon. Greg Pearce: It is about time, too.
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: The commission will lose its wage-fixing powers and its conciliation and arbitration powers. The Hon. Greg Pearce says that it is about time, too. This country's industrial relations system has been operating for 110 years. I thank the Hon. Greg Pearce for his interjection. The Hon. Greg Pearce thinks it is about time we abolished the independent umpire, took away the relevance of awards, and cut back dispute resolution powers. The Commonwealth Government has attempted to justify removal of the commission's powers to resolve disputes by saying that it wants employers and employees to resolve disputes between themselves.
The Hon. Duncan Gay: Point of order: Unless I am mistaken, this is a State Parliament, but we are hearing about matters that are before the Commonwealth Parliament. The Minister should be directed to make his remarks relevant to the matters that concern the State.
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: To the point of order: The question specifically asked what the impact will be upon New South Wales of changes to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.
The PRESIDENT: Order! The Minister is quite clearly answering the question. If the Deputy Leader of the Opposition had a problem with the question, he should have taken a point of order when the question was asked. The Minister is answering the question.
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: The Boeing dispute at Williamtown shows how inefficient and costly the Commonwealth Government's approach can be. The dispute between Boeing and its F-18 maintenance workers has been dragging on for 120 days and is one of the longest industrial disputes in Australia's history. Because the commission already has been stripped of its powers to initiate compulsory conciliation, this dispute continues to be handled the Federal Government's way. A stalemate of attrition between a multinational corporation and its Newcastle maintenance workers is hardly a sign of successful dispute resolution between the parties. Of course, all the employees who are involved are residents of New South Wales.
Under the WorkChoices proposals, a model dispute-settling procedure that has been outlined by the Commonwealth Government will overrule all dispute resolution provisions in awards. The Commonwealth Government's model assumes that parties who are unable to resolve their workplace disputes will put aside competing interests and agree on which alternative dispute resolution service they will use. Even if the parties get that far, the commission will not have the power to finally determine the dispute without the agreement of both parties. This will not happen. This approach is a recipe for spreading Boeing-type disputes throughout Australia with workers on the grass or out in tents.
One person who has spoken out against the Commonwealth Government's proposals is the founder of a company that has lodged 15,000 Australian workplace agreements [AWAs]. Rob Thompson of Enterprise Initiatives previously has been criticised for drafting agreements that do not provide for holidays, leave loadings or penalties, but even Mr Thomson has expressed his concerns about the Commonwealth Government's proposals. He told the ABC recently:
This is a democracy—and this is the time to speak and hopefully be listened to before this Bill is put through the Parliament.
Moreover, this man, who has drafted 15,000 AWAs, said in relation to the Howard Government's WorkChoices package, "Bad law makes bad people." Removal of the independent umpire and the removal of all protections and entitlements is bad law. Even the best employer will be forced into extreme behaviour and will be forced into a race to the bottom in order to compete.
The Australian Industrial Relations Commission has rejected the Commonwealth Government's arguments at every national wage case and in crucial test cases. The commission is now being treated like an employee of a company that has fewer than 100 workers. After more than 100 years of faithful service to employers and employees of Australia the commission is being sacked, and Australia can look forward to high levels of industrial conflict, lengthy disputes, uncertainty and insecurity. The WorkChoices policy is certainly not operating in the interests of the State of New South Wales.