Kieran Gilbert
The Government has introduced its “Secure Jobs, Better Pay” Bill – a suite of reforms to workplace relations. Let’s get the reaction from the Opposition – the Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations Michaelia Cash joins me. Thanks for your time.
The Government says that strikes will actually be harder to undertake after this Bill is introduced because arbitration is going to be made compulsory before any industrial action. Do you accept that?
Senator Cash
Absolutely not. After today, Minister Burke should only be known as the “Minister for Strikes” in this country. Employers in this country are the job creators. Employers across Australia have come out today and they have condemned Labor’s industrial relations legislation. In fact, the summary seems to be: forget secure jobs and secure pay. What you are securing is strike action across Australia and a much, much higher rise in unemployment. Quite frankly, that is shameful.
Kieran Gilbert
The Government maintains that things like secondary boycotts are illegal, and have been illegal under the Coalition, remain illegal under this Government. Do you accept that?
Senator Cash
Kieran, what I accept is in Australia, the primacy of the employment relationship is between the employer and the employee. I negotiate with you at an enterprise level for what’s in the best interests of both of us. That has been thrown out the door. We are taking a step back to the bad old days of the 1970s, and what you will see is employers across Australia, as long as you have a common interest, you can be compulsorily dragged into the bargaining process against your will, and your business can be shut down. You tell me how that is good for the economy in Australia. This Bill unanimously, across Australia, with employers is going to have a devastating impact on our economy.
Kieran Gilbert
When you say that they could be dragged in again, the government says this multi-employer facet to the Bill which was introduced today is all opt-in. And when it comes to small business, that again, they can’t be compelled to be involved if they’ve got less than 15 employees.
Senator Cash
The last time – and I saw Sally McManus’ comments – the last time I went to, to quote Sally, “a burger joint”, can I tell you they had more than 15 employees. The last time I went to a cafe on a Saturday, they had more than 15 employees. There are a lot of businesses, tens of thousands, in Australia that are quite literally shaking in their boots today. The ability for them to negotiate directly, the primacy of the employment relationship between the employer and the employee, is being taken away from them, and it is being handed over to the centralised umpire.
Kieran Gilbert
Explain how they’d be dragged into what is an opt-in process?
Senator Cash
Well, it’s not an opt-in process because if a majority of employees agree that they want to bargain, you are in as the employer – that’s it. This is on any analysis, possibly the worst legislation that we had ever seen because at a time of rising interest rates, rising inflation, rising electricity costs, the average Australian family $2,000 worse off by Christmas. You have employers in Australia standing up and saying the only thing this legislation will do is result in strike action across Australia and job losses. How in God’s name can the Australian Labor Party stand there with a straight face and say this is job creating?
Kieran Gilbert
The idea that an EBA with McDonald’s employees be extended to a small business selling burgers, I put that through Sally McManus – she rejected that. She said that’s not going to happen that, that it is not going to be a union focus.
Senator Cash
She did not reject it. What she said is burger joints have less than 15 employees. What about the burger joint that has more than 15 employees? What about the shopping centre and all the tenants in the shopping centre that have more than 15 employees and have a common interest that they all share premises within the shopping center? What happens if those employees decide they want their employer roped into the bargaining process? You are literally taking away the ability of employers and employees in Australia to negotiate directly. You are handing that over to a centralised body.
Kieran Gilbert
On the CFMEU, they have been excluded for 18 months. If they do return, obviously the more militant union is the concern in the resources sector in your home state of WA that that would wreak havoc there.
Senator Cash
Why would you, in particular where the economy is today, put at risk strike action in the resources sector in Australia? Why would you do that?
Kieran Gilbert
But they haven’t, they’ve exluded them.
Senator Cash
There are plenty of other unions on worksites.
Kieran Gilbert
They’re not militant like the CFMEU, are they?
Senator Cash
Seriously, why would you, though, put them at risk? And what’s so laughable about this Bill, is Tony Burke says, well, that industry, the construction industry, it’s not a mature enough industry. But in the same Bill, they’re abolishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and in the same breath they are still taking donations from the CFMMEU. This Bill will be a disaster for our economy and what is worse, for a government that was elected on the basis of integrity and transparency, they are rushing this through the parliament and in less than three weeks the relevant committee needs to report. Employers do not have the time to properly go through 250 pages of legislation, a 260 page explanatory memorandum, but Labor doesn’t care.
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