Consideration of the Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1996
Table of Contents

GOVERNMENT SENATORS' REPORT

5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Government Senators, having listened to all the evidence presented orally at public hearings and read all the written submissions, recognise and accept there is anxiety in the community over the proposed changes in this Bill.

At the outset, it must be stated that much of this anxiety is because neither the union movement nor Opposition Labor Senators were prepared to accurately present the actual facts of the Bill in their arguments. That is why, in the Government Senators' report, we have spent so much of our time pointing out that in fact, the anxieties of this Bill are fictional not factual. The classic example of this is claims that have been made that those on AWA's, on casual rates or piece rates ect. will not be underpinned by the rates of pay in the award.

This is absolutely and totally wrong.

Their rates of pay will be underpinned by what is in the awards established by what our opponents called their 'own umpire' - the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

However, we do not believe that those reservations and anxieties are any-where near as strong as those expressed to the Senate committee which examined the 1993 legislation in Minister Brereton's Industrial Relations Reform Bill, 1993.

We have endeavoured, in the Government Senator's report, to put the other side of the story as against the Opposition majority report. It is indeed a powerful story.

Whilst accepting the reservations expressed during the hearings, we do not believe that employees will be worse off. Rather, we believe that these changes - which have been described by expert witnesses as modest or as 'decentralisation' not 'deregulation' - will in fact, as part of the reform process which was begun at least as far back as 1987, give hope to the unemployed, assist in improving our international competitiveness leading in turn to a reduction in our national debt. We are convinced that this is in the best interests of all Australians.

Therefore, we reiterate our introductory comments, whilst accepting that industrial matters should be monitored - no different to what has occurred in the past - that this Bill, the Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, 1996, be passed as soon as possible without amendment.