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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1301 ..

COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT'S INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS REFORMS
Ministerial Statement and Paper

MR DE DOMENICO (Minister for Urban Services and Minister for Industrial Relations): Mr Speaker, I seek leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the Commonwealth Government's industrial relations reforms.

Leave granted.

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, I should like to report to the Assembly on the special meeting of the Labour Ministers Council which was held in Melbourne on 29 March. I represented the ACT Government at the meeting. The meeting was dedicated to consideration of the workplace relations legislation package being developed by the Federal Government following its election in March. The focus of the meeting was on those elements of the Federal Government's package where harmonisation with State industrial relations arrangements is required. Thus the matters discussed included unfair dismissal, coverage of State public sector employees, the relationship between workplace agreements in areas of Commonwealth power and those covered by State law, measures to promote freedom of association, and administrative arrangements for efficient service delivery.

Assembly members will be aware that there is no State-type system of industrial awards and agreements in the ACT. The Federal Industrial Relations Act applies directly in the ACT. To give effect to its legislative reforms, it is the intention of the Commonwealth to draw on the Territories power in the Constitution as well as other powers. Thus no complementary action is required in this jurisdiction to ensure that all employers and workers are covered by the new arrangements for handling unfair dismissals or for negotiating workplace agreements. The Carnell Government has no problem with this. Application of the Commonwealth system of industrial relations in the ACT means that the legislative framework, and the rights and duties of workers and employers here, are the same as for the rest of Australian industry, and for the Australian work force, where Federal law and Federal awards apply.

It is not in the interests of the ACT to establish our own separate industrial relations system and to duplicate industrial relations tribunals. Rather, as a matter of principle, there could be benefits in the national interest in seeking to move to a single industrial relations system for Australia. Assembly members will recall that this proposal was recently raised by Jeff Kennett, the Premier of Victoria. The Victorian Labour Minister did not attend the special meeting of the Labour Ministers Council, because the Victorian Government was then in caretaker mode pending the State election. I note, Mr Speaker, that the Kennett Liberal Government was handsomely re-endorsed at that election.

I raised at the council meeting the desirability in principle of looking at the potential for working towards a unitary system. I have to say that a number of my State colleagues were not very enthusiastic. However, the Commonwealth Minister, Peter Reith, readily accepted that a big step towards a single system for Australia would be a nationally consistent and more user-friendly system. Progress towards achieving harmonisation between the Commonwealth and State systems would mean a significant advance towards more rational industrial relations arrangements in Australia.

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