Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash

Shadow Attorney-General

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations

Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate

Senator for Western Australia

TRANSCRIPT

Press Conference, Canberra

Topics: tony burke, industrial relations, legislation, businesses, referendum, Bill, casual, union, senate

7 September 2023

E&OE.

Senator Cash

Well, Tony Burke and the Albanese government had an embarrassing loss in the Senate today when my motion to ensure that the Senate was given adequate opportunity to properly interrogate his IR Bill was supported. I joined with the crossbench, and I do thank the crossbench, to ensure that we are able to conduct a number of committee hearings over the balance of this year, properly interrogate almost 800 pages of legislation and report back to the Australian Senate on the 1st of February. Tony Burke is apparently absolutely furious. He had given very strict instructions to the Labor senators: you are to ram this complex, this costly, and this confusing legislation through this parliament by the end of this year. They had proposed a reporting date of the 23rd of November. I say shame on them. Small businesses around Australia do not have the resources that Tony Burke and his senators have to interrogate this Bill. They are going to be relying on the Australian Senate to properly do its job, and the crossbench today, along with the Coalition have enabled that to occur. As I said, Tony Burke is furious. I hope Labor and the Greens don’t use their numbers to now limit the number of hearings we’re able to have to get around Australia and actually to hear from businesses, and in particular small businesses, about the impact this almost 800 pages of legislation that it will have on them. Tony Burke and Anthony Albanese need to really reflect on the comments that they made, both prior to the election and after they were elected. They talked a lot about transparency. They talked a lot about open government. They talked a lot about integrity. Trying to, yet again, ram through the Australian Senate almost 800 pages of legislation before the end of the year without allowing the Australian Senate to undertake its role, and our role is to properly scrutinise legislation, does not stack up. So we have successfully today, and as I said it was a very embarrassing loss for Labor, worked with the crossbench to now ensure that we get around Australia, we talk to businesses, small businesses, medium businesses, larger businesses, and properly understand the impact that this complex, costly and confusing legislation is going to have on them.

Journalist

Did Jacqui Lambie or David Pocock tell you why they felt that they needed another few months to scrutinise the industrial relations legislation?

Senator Cash

Yes, they did and they were very, very upfront. I understand Jacqui Lambie, and I don’t think I’m talking out of school here, has made her position this morning very, very clear to Tony Burke. She is not going to ram through the parliament 800 pages of legislation. I say, good on you, Jacqui, for joining with the Coalition and voting to ensure transparency and shame on Mr. Burke for wanting to ram this legislation through the parliament. 800 pages of legislation. Seriously? I have been inundated, as I’m sure the crossbench have, by businesses across Australia. They are literally at the moment drowning in detail. The test for casuals, for example, at the moment, it is a very, very simple test. Businesses around Australia, small businesses in particular, are saying if this legislation goes through, it will literally be a rabbit warren of decisions that need to be made. If you are the local deli, if you are the local cafe, if you are just a local business, how do you find the time to work your way through a complex web of decisions that you are going to have to make to ensure that the person you are employing is correctly employed, when all you and that person want is for them to be employed on a casual basis? So again, I’m just very pleased that it was an embarrassing loss for Tony Burke and the Labor Party and that we have been able to get the reporting date for the committee on the 1st of February next year.

Journalist

Katy [Gallagher] said that essentially it doesn’t matter how long you have to report that the opposition won’t change its mind. Are you considering making workable amendments to the Bill or do you think it’s completely untenable?

Senator Cash

Well, shame on Katy Gallagher for abrogating her role as a senator and not allowing the scrutiny. Shame on Katy Gallagher for not listening to the small businesses here in Canberra who themselves have raised issues already with me, in particular, in relation to the new definition of casual and the confusion that it is already causing them. We need to properly interrogate this Bill. It is only by properly interrogating it that the Australian people are going to start to understand the impact, in particular on their local small businesses. The first time any of us saw this Bill was only after Mr. Burke tabled it in the House of Representatives because he refused to allow any form of public debate or comment during the consultation phase. And again, Mr. Albanese, big on transparency, I don’t think so because those businesses who participated had to sign non-disclosure agreements. So, the Australian Senate now needs the opportunity, and quite frankly, the respect by Mr. Burke and the respect on behalf of businesses across Australia. Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian community who do give those uni kids their casual jobs on weekends, who do give mums who just want that little bit of work on a casual basis that opportunity. Well, guess what Mr. Burke? We need to understand properly the impact of that legislation to see what the true impact is going to be on businesses around Australia.

Journalist

But it doesn’t force them to become permanent workers? They can still choose to remain casuals?

Senator Cash

They are getting rid of the legislated definition of casual. That is what the Coalition delivered for the first time to employers and employees across this country the last time we were in government. They had been long, long asking for a legislated definition to ensure that there was certainty. Prior to the Coalition legislating the definition and providing certainty, in particular, for those small businesses and their employees across Australia, there was complete confusion. Well guess what Tony Burke is doing? He is taking us back to those confusing days. That does nothing to ease the burden on small businesses in this country.

Journalist

How concerning is it that a delegate in a workplace is going to have access to their fellow employees who are eligible but are currently not members of unions? Do they deserve an opportunity to make the case to them to join the union?

Senator Cash

Well, again, you raise a very, very good point in relation to the changes to union delegates and right of entry. That was not spoken about before the election. That was not part of the Jobs and Skills Summit last year. That is something that Labor has just decided to put in this Bill, and now we all know why. The ACTU have long asked for this right, and as have other unions around Australia. I have real concerns that I want to explore, as do the crossbench, as do the Coalition senators, in relation to what is the actual impact of these delegates’ rights? What if they do go in, and in particular, if they’re there because of a suspected wage underpayment, and they demand the business records? What happens if the business panics and just hands over everything, and suddenly you have an issue in relation to privacy? Government departments have very, very strict rules about what they can and can’t do with information, and in particular, personal information. I want to properly explore what are the guardrails that Tony Burke is putting around this particular right that he’s handing over to his union mates, and let’s be honest, checking off another item on the union’s agenda.

Journalist

Can I just ask about the second referendum being proposed by Peter Dutton? Has that gone through or been stamped off by Shadow Cabinet and Shadow Expenditure Review?

Senator Cash

Well, again, that has long been the Coalition’s policy. We are committed to constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians. That has long been our policy and that is the policy that Peter Dutton is committed to. The decision that Australians have to make over the next six weeks is whether or not they support Anthony Albanese’s elitist Canberra-based voice. Mr. Albanese likes to be tricky with the Australian people. He says the question that you are being asked is whether or not you want to recognise Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders in our Constitution, and he then forgets – or says in a very quiet voice – through a Voice. Shame on Mr. Albanese for not working with the Australian people, for not working with Peter Dutton, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Kerrynne Liddell, and actually bringing Australians together for a unifying moment. What you’re going to see after the referendum, whether it gets up or it doesn’t, the one thing that Mr. Albanese as the prime minister of this nation has achieved, well, guess what? He has successfully divided this country. No prime minister should ever divide our country, let alone take that to a referendum.

Journalist

But is Shadow Cabinet united on that decision?

Senator Cash

Again, our policy has long been constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians. That is our policy.

Journalist

Why hasn’t anyone from the Coalition signed the Black Dog Institute’s Respectful Referendum Pledge, when we’ve seen the Greens, Labor and members of the crossbench take it on board?

Senator Cash

We have been very clear at all times, every person in this debate, whether you do or you do not support the question, should conduct themselves respectfully. I don’t need to sign anything to do that, with all due respect. That is the way each and every one of us should be conducting ourselves every single day. That is the very clear message that Peter Dutton sent, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Warren Mundine, who himself has been subjected to some of the most vile racial abuse that I have ever seen, Senator Kerrynne Liddell. Each one of us, the Coalition, each one of us should conduct ourselves respectfully on a daily basis. This is ultimately a decision for the Australian people. What I would say to the Australian people is: if you don’t know, and you can’t get the details, it’s okay to vote no to Mr. Albanese’s elitist-Canberra based voice.

Journalist

Are you concerned that the junior coalition partner is considering abandoning net zero at a motion at the Nationals’ conference this weekend?

Senator Cash

Well, again, our position is very, very clear under Peter Dutton that we are committed to net zero. Full stop. That’s it. But what Peter is also discussing with the Australian people is how you actually achieve that in a way that doesn’t cripple the economy, that doesn’t cripple business and ensures that you have reliable energy – because Australians, we understand reliable energy – and that’s not going to break Australians’ bank accounts. You talk to any Australian out there at the moment, the first thing they’ll say to you is that Mr. Albanese had promised that he would reduce my energy Bill by $275. That was before the election. Once Mr. Albanese was elected, election commitments, they mean absolutely nothing because he’s now in office. It’s not just the $275. You look at today, where energy prices are. You go to any business out there and you talk to them. You go to small businesses and you talk to them about the crippling energy costs that they are facing. You talk to mum and dad out there, just battling to get by every day, talk to them about their energy costs. So Peter Dutton is very clear. Our commitment to net zero is very clear. But we also want a conversation with Australians about how you get there in the most efficient, responsible, reliable and cost effective manner. Thank you very much.