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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1302 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

The various reforms now being proposed by the Commonwealth are all consistent with the ACT Liberal Party's policy on labour relations. Some aspects of that policy which will be given effect through the new Federal legislation are: Devolving responsibility for resolving local industrial problems to the workplace - in the first instance it will be the responsibility of employers and employees to resolve their own disputes if possible; encouraging a more flexible and less centralised industrial relations system; creating an industrial relations system based on voluntary agreements that will sit side by side with the system of industrial awards; and enshrining in legislation the individual freedom to associate and not to associate, while fully accepting that, as voluntary associations, trade unions and employer organisations have an important and legitimate role in the ACT economy.

Mr Speaker, there is no doubt also that the reforms proposed will have the support of industry. Business, particularly small business, should find the new system for handling unfair dismissals much less threatening. The present disincentive on taking on new employees will be greatly reduced, to the benefit of ACT job seekers. Similarly, the system of Australian workplace agreements is designed to be much more user friendly than the current requirements for enterprise flexibility agreements. These requirements were designed more to protect union power and influence than to encourage workplace reform and innovation.

The broad agreement on the way forward which was reached in the special meeting of the Labour Ministers Council is reflected in the communique which was issued at its conclusion. I table a copy of the communique, for the information of members. As indicated in the communique, there have been further meetings between officials to develop further the areas on which Ministers reached broad agreement. I commend the new Commonwealth Minister, Mr Reith, on his readiness to consult on the details of his proposed new legislation. I also commend all my State and Northern Territory colleagues, including my colleague from New South Wales, on the strong cooperative spirit they have shown and the collective endeavour to create, across Australia, industrial relations arrangements which are consistent and provide a fair go all round.

As I said earlier, Mr Speaker, the Federal Industrial Relations Act applies directly to employers and workers in the ACT. I have kept the Industrial Relations Advisory Council informed of the Labour Ministers Council discussions. There are a number of other aspects of the Commonwealth's proposed legislative package, beyond the areas I mentioned that require cooperation by the States, which could affect the conduct of industrial relations in the ACT. Mr Speaker, the ACT Government, as an employer, has learnt only too well over the past months the difficulties and impediments in relation to the limited range of responses available to employers, in the context of protected action associated with enterprise bargaining, in the Act as it was drafted by former Minister Brereton at the dictation of the ACTU. We have already put the new Commonwealth Minister on notice about the deficiencies and will be pursuing desirable reforms as the legislation is developed.

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