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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1303 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

Mr Speaker, the Commonwealth Minister has made a commitment to provide the States and Territories with an exposure draft of the proposed Bill in advance of it being introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament. He is on the public record as wishing to introduce the legislation in this parliamentary session. I should like to tell Assembly members how pleased I am with the emerging spirit of cooperation in industrial relations following the election of the Federal coalition Government. Greater cooperation, consistency and clarity between Commonwealth and State industrial relations jurisdictions will make a significant contribution to improving the efficiency and productivity of Australian business. (Quorum formed) Making the negotiation and completion of workplace agreements between employers and their direct employees easier will encourage reform and innovation to maximise competitiveness, while giving full regard to the needs and aspirations of workers. Mr Speaker, I present the following paper:

Commonwealth Government's Industrial Relations Reforms - ministerial statement, 15 May 1996.

I move:

That the Assembly takes note of the papers.

MR BERRY (4.00): Mr Speaker, amidst all the rhetoric, read "less wages and conditions for workers", "a weaker negotiating position" and all the stuff and nonsense that comes from the H.R. Nicholls Society. Read also "the CRA approach to industrial relations". They and the H.R. Nicholls Society see unions as not being part of the picture. They believe that unions should not be part of a management-employee relationship. That is the position that the Liberals are coming from. Do not deny it. You are not fooling anybody.

Mr De Domenico firstly talked about unfair dismissal. He would make it more sensible, more flexible, easier for small business. Read "Workers will find it harder to prove that they have been wrongfully dismissed". Mr Speaker, we are in an age when jobs are the most important issue. I must refer to the dismal performance here in the ACT by the Carnell Government on jobs. I feel compelled to mention it because of the 2,300 extra people on the unemployment list under the Liberal Government. Since Mrs Carnell came to office more and more people have been unemployed, and rates showing the percentage of the population unemployed have been spiralling upwards. Let us not deny those facts. Mr Speaker, in this sort of a climate, strong unfair dismissal laws are extremely important. How else can a person of non-English-speaking background defend themselves if you do not have the strongest unfair dismissal laws? This is the H.R. Nicholls Society and CRA at work. Is it any wonder that CRA got an $11m handout from this Government?

The rhetoric on freedom of association means less union power, which means weaker workers, because they are not able to organise as efficiently. This Government and all of their Liberal colleagues around this country are on the H.R. Nicholls band wagon. Let us not deny that. Mr Speaker, what the Liberals argue is that they now have a mandate to weaken the position of workers. They do not. Level-headed people around this country believe in the - - -

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