6984 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Friday 9 June 2000 ______ Mr Speaker (The Hon. John Henry Murray) took the chair at 10.00 a.m.. Mr Speaker offered the Prayer. KU-RING-GAI CHASE NATIONAL PARK BUSHFIRE Mr SPEAKER: Yesterday the Minister for Emergency Services made a ministerial statement in this House in relation to a tragedy in the Ku-ring-gai area. The shadow minister, the honourable member for Southern Highlands, and the honourable member for Hornsby, in whose electorate that tragedy occurred, also addressed the House. It is now appropriate for the House to acknowledge the tragedy by observing a minute's silence. Members and officers of the House stood in their places. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AMENDMENT BILL Second Reading Debate resumed from 6 June. Mr HUMPHERSON (Davidson) [10.02 a.m.]: Mr Speaker, I echo the comments made by you, by the Minister for Emergency Services and by the honourable member for Hornsby in relation to the tragedy that occurred in the northern area of Sydney. Many of us are aware of and recognise the terrific job that is done under difficult circumstances by officers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Garigal National Park. Our thoughts are with the families of those who have been hit by this terrible tragedy. On behalf of the honourable member for Gosford and manager of Opposition business in this House, who is unavailable today, and the Hon. M. J. Gallacher, Leader of the Opposition in the other place and shadow Minister for Industrial Relations in the Legislative Council, I lead for the Opposition in debate on the Industrial Relations Amendment Bill. The Opposition is deeply concerned about the lack of notice it was given in respect of the Industrial Relations Amendment Bill. A great deal of reform has occurred in the industrial relations area, particularly under the former Minister, John Fahey. Since 1995, under the Carr Government, there has been a subsequent winding back of some of those initiatives and reforms. I acknowledge the work done at the Federal level by the Minister, Peter Reith, who has made substantial improvements to industrial relations legislation. We now have in place a better structure which facilitates workplace agreements and better relationships between employees and employers. The legislation also enables unions to play a role in those circumstances, where appropriate. The Opposition's central concerns in relation to this legislation are the lack of notice that it has been given and the fact that this legislation seeks to reinforce, expand and entrench the role of unions in areas in which the Opposition does not believe unions should play a role. The effect of this legislation will be to wind back the progress that has been made in this State over the past decade. It will arm unions with legislative clubs and powers which ought not be given them in the first place and it will vest greater authority in the Industrial Relations Commission. I do not believe that appointees to the Industrial Relations Commission, because of their strong Labor Party and union affiliations, are regarded as being objective. Effectively, this legislation will create a framework which is targeted—albeit shrouded in sugar-coated rhetoric—at assisting unions and diminishing the legitimate role and relationship that should exist between employees and employers. In many respects, the bill is a legislative Trojan horse. The Coalition has great sympathy and support for some of the provisions in this legislation, but contained within it are also some fairly damaging powers which will have an adverse impact on many independent contractors and many employees and employers throughout New South Wales. This legislation, which is about reinstating the power of unions and recognising their influence, will disproportionately increase their influence. The overall tenor of this bill is against the 9 June 2000 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 6985 worldwide trend with respect to industrial relations. Because of the lack of notice that the Opposition was given, we are still consulting with stakeholders throughout the State to determine what impact the bill will have on those stakeholders. After the passage of the bill through this House there is a strong likelihood that the Opposition will move a number of amendments in the upper House which will seek to remove or mitigate some of the powers intended to be given to unions and to amend clauses which will undermine the legitimate relationship which should exist between employees and employers. The Opposition will not oppose the transition of this legislation through the Legislative Assembly and it will not move any amendments in Committee. Most Opposition members have chosen to reserve their right to speak in debate on this bill in order to facilitate its passage through this House. The Opposition is not at all comfortable with this bill in its current form. The overview of the bill states: The object of this Bill is to make a number of miscellaneous amendments to the Industrial Relations Act 1996, including the following: (a) to empower the Industrial Relations Commission to declare any class of persons (working as contractors but not under a contract of employment) to be employees for the purposes of the Industrial Relations Act … if it considers they would be more appropriately regarded as employees, (b) to enable the parties to a project award or an award relating to a single employer (or to two or more associated employers) to agree to the award commencing retrospectively from any earlier date than the date of the commencement of proceedings for (or that give rise to) the award, (c) to clarify the application of the "no net detriment" test in relation to the approval of enterprise agreements that apply to employees to whom a Federal award applies or to employees to whom no award (State or Federal) applies, (d) to dispense with the requirement that the minimum term for which an enterprise agreement can be made to apply is 12 months, (e) to extend to casual employees who work on a regular and systematic basis the entitlement to 12 months' unpaid maternity, paternity or adoption leave, (f) to enable some employees covered by a Federal award to bring unfair dismissal claims before the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales, (g) to extend the period of 6 months during which an injured worker cannot be dismissed because he or she is unfit for work to any longer period of accident pay to which the injured employee is entitled under an industrial instrument, (h) to enable an employee, for whom the employer is required to make superannuation contributions to a fund designated by an industrial instrument, to revoke any nomination of the employee under section 124 of a different fund to which the contributions are to be paid, (i) to dispense with the requirement that an employer must obtain the permission of the Industrial Registrar to keep employee records at a place other than the workplace, (j) to confer a right of appeal to the Full Bench of the Commission against a decision of an Industrial Magistrate to dismiss proceedings for a civil penalty for a breach of an industrial instrument in addition to the existing right of appeal against a decision to impose such a penalty, (k) to provide that in proceedings to enforce rights against victimisation there is to be a rebuttable presumption that any detrimental action taken against an employee was victimisation, (l) to reduce the notice required to be given by an authorised industrial officer who wishes to enter premises to investigate industrial law breaches from 48 hours to 24 hours, but to allow a further period of 24 hours for a person to produce any records not kept on the premises, (m) to provide that a non-judicial member of the Commission may only be removed from office in the same way as a judicial member, that is, by the Governor on the address of both Houses of Parliament. I refer to feedback that the Opposition has received in the past 24 hours and indicate that concerns have been expressed to us by Australian Business, the Housing Industry Association and the Housing Industry Group. These views underscore the absence of wide community consultation on these changes and will increase concern, particularly amongst employers, both large and small. There is a need for thorough debate, with opportunity for stakeholders in the wider community to contribute, and for crossbench members in the other place to make amendments in the interests of both employers and employees, rather than solely the union movement in New South Wales. The Australian Industry Group indicated by way of a media release on 7 June, over the name of Mark Goodsell: 6986 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 9 June 2000 The NSW Government has bowed to the Trade Union agenda by introducing legislation into Parliament last night that will needlessly limit the use of genuine contract arrangements in NSW. The Industrial Relations Amendment Bill 2000 will give the Industrial Relations Commission the power to declare independent contractors to be employees, thus attracting a whole raft of inappropriate and anti-growth regulation. Companies and individuals who are currently operating under genuine contract arrangements will be sucked back into the award system and greater union influence. Awards are designed to regulate the employment relationship, but some individuals and enterprises now legitimately rely on alternate arrangements that suit their changing needs. Instead of changing to suit these realities, the NSW award system will now be stretched to cover new areas and limit the flexibility needed in the modern workplace. It is ironic that the major effects of this will be more strongly felt in those industries that the Government sees as the future of growth in NSW.