Address to AI Group - Canberra

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. I extend that respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

Thank you very much for the introduction, and for giving me the opportunity to speak with you tonight.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet with you so early in this new role as Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, at what’s a pivotal time for our country.

I thought it would help to give you a brief insight into my background, who I am, and some of the immediate priorities that are on my desk.

Having practised in workplace relations as a lawyer, I’m honoured – and excited – to take on these new responsibilities.

I’ve been active in this space for a long time, including since being elected to the Senate eight years ago. Having represented my predecessor Tony Burke in his portfolio in the Senate for the last two years has been excellent training!

Well, I’m barely two weeks into this new job and it hasn’t exactly been a quiet start.

Just hours after driving to Government House to be officially sworn in as the Minister, I was getting briefings from my department about the serious allegations that have been aired about the CFMEU.

Since then I have been working day and night to get across the issues in the portfolio, take urgent action on some pretty pressing matters, and meet with industry groups. I was very pleased to meet with AI Group and other employer groups last week, and look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with you.

From our first day in office, our Government has been committed to getting more Australians better pay, more secure and safer jobs and this, of course, requires thriving successful businesses.

These are the unwavering principles that will guide me in this new role. 

Now, I’m not going to attempt to channel Minister Burke here, but I absolutely share his pride in the changes we have made over the last two years.

And I pay tribute to his stewardship in this important role.

We are proud to have reinvigorated the bargaining system to support cooperative workplaces, and wages and productivity growth. 

Today we saw annual real wages have grown by 0.3% through the year to the June quarter. That’s the third consecutive quarter of annual real wages growth.

Our changes to the Fair Work Act have helped the Fair Work Commission resolve disputes, to lower industrial action.

The latest quarterly labour force figures show there were only 16,800 days lost to industrial action.

In contrast, in the last quarter under the previous Coalition government 128,100 days were lost.

The Commission also has greater powers to help parties reach an agreement where there is an impasse.

We’ve provided $20 million to the Fair Work Ombudsman Employer Advisory Service so it can provide free tailored advice to eligible small businesses.

We understand small businesses needed clarity on reforms, and we’ve provided specific exemptions and other special arrangements like delayed commencement of some provisions for small businesses.

These are smarter solutions that – again - help bring parties together, and create more jobs for Australians.

On Thursday the ABS will release the latest labour force figures.

Up until the most recent reference month, 930,000 jobs have been created since we came into office. That's more jobs in a parliamentary term than any government in history.

We’ve maintained low unemployment and achieved record high employment despite tough economic conditions.

We’re doing a lot to create more jobs, in more industries.

Creating more opportunities for Australians to find rewarding, fulfilling work.

And you have an important role to play in making sure that Australian businesses share in these opportunities.

The Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda – to rebuild and revitalise our manufacturing industry and drive value-adding across our economy, is a prime example.

Projects funded under the Future Made in Australia will need to demonstrate that they deliver community benefits, including safe and secure jobs, and new employment opportunities for people who find it harder to get into the labour market, or particular industries.

And the international transition to net zero presents another significant opportunity for Australians looking for work, and for your organisations.

Our Government is playing a key role by targeting investments in priority industries and creating more secure and well-paid jobs for local people, including in regional and remote Australia.

The work of your organisations will be critical in connecting Australian businesses to the opportunities of the future as new industries emerge.

But in order to get to continue filling those jobs, we need a pipeline of workers coming through our training system.

I want to acknowledge AI Group’s support for some of our key investments in, and changes to, our skills and training system.

Working closely with new Skills and Training Minister, Andrew Giles, I will be responsible for representing these issues around the Cabinet table.

As you would be aware, the Albanese Government is investing over $12 billion of the $30 billion in funding for the National Skills Agreement for the VET sector.

Through our Future Made in Australia program in this year’s Budget, the $50 million capital and equipment investment fund will upgrade facilities to expand clean energy training capacity across wind, solar, pumped hydro, grid battery storage, electricity networks and hydrogen, as well as key electrical and construction trades.

Through our Fee Free TAFE, we’re helping to grow and sustain the skills pipeline. This is helping with skills shortages in a range of industries, including construction, to boost the housing supply.

We’re also supporting new university places to address shortages in engineering, nursing, tech, and teaching.

Our New Energy Apprenticeships Program has been expanded this year, and will support New Energy apprentices into a clean energy careers, encouraging more young people to take up apprenticeships in these industries.

Our Australian Skills Guarantee means 1 in 10 jobs on major federally funded infrastructure projects are reserved for apprentices, trainees or cadets.

And we’ve also established Startup Year to support uni students and graduate entrepreneurs with startup courses that encourage innovation - 11 uni’s have been selected for the pilot program this year.

There’s a lot happening to train the workers Australian industry needs and I thank you for your support in that endeavour.

For those filling out bingo cards this evening, I’m not going to use the cliché “we may not agree on everything” in this speech tonight.

But this kind of active engagement this week by the AI Group is precisely what helps us create better opportunities for all Australians.

We know where we stand with each other. We know we can talk to each other. We can be pragmatic.

It can be tempting sometimes to get engaged in two-way megaphone diplomacy, but the best results are achieved by engagement and consultation.

That’s something the AI Group is best known for – positive engagement with this government, and with my department.

You represent the interests of more than 60,000 businesses that employ more than 1 million staff.

It’s undeniably an important voice.

I thank you for the way you regularly engage with formal consultation processes such as the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council, and the Committee on Industrial Legislation (CoIL).

On top of that, your work on the department’s Strategic Industry Advisory Committee, and various Jobs and Skills Councils and Safe Work Australia, is greatly appreciated.

And in return, I remain committed to keeping open lines of communication, including on the issue that’s been dominating my time so far - reforming the CFMEU construction sector.

The Albanese Government has taken strong action this week by introducing a bill to enable me to decide whether it is in the public interest to appoint an administrator to take charge of the Construction and General Division of the CFMEU and its branches. 

This is in response to the shocking allegations of infiltration of the union and the construction industry by bikie gangs and organised crime.

We regard this alleged behaviour as abhorrent. I know we are all in furious agreement about that. 

I can assure you here tonight we introduced this legislation to enable the swiftest possible response to bad behaviour in the building and construction industry.

Some in this room may still be wondering why we haven’t de-registered the CFMEU.

De-registering the union sounds like a stronger course of action but it will not do what people think it will do.

Under the Registered Organisations Act, there are stronger powers to exercise if the CFMEU remains registered.

While we are yet to finalise the scheme of administration that would apply should I appoint an administrator under the legislation, it is likely to reflect the application by the General Manager of the Fair Work Commission.

That scheme would vacate about 270 individuals from office, seize control over finances and assets, and would control a majority vote in the Construction & General Division and relevant branches.

The Administrator would then govern the union in the best interests of its members and be responsible for promoting compliance with Australian laws.

If the CFMEU is de-registered, all those outcomes would be much harder to achieve.

It would leave an unregulated entity, full of those the subject of the recent allegations. I reckon that would be bad for construction employers.

And it will do nothing but penalise the many honest workers in the construction sector that rely on a registered union for proper representation.

And in response to the repeated calls to bring back the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), I’ll make this point.

All the allegations that have been aired in the last few weeks occurred on the ABCC’s watch, and nothing was done about them.

While the ABCC existed, productivity in construction fell and since it was abolished, days lost to industrial action have actually fallen.

I think all Australians are disturbed by the allegations of thuggery, bullying, intimidation and in its worst examples, criminality and corruption in this union.

I publicly called on the CFMEU leadership to consent to the application made to the court to put them into administration. They still haven't consented. It's clear that they're not going to. And we're not prepared to wait any longer to clean up this union and return it to focusing on the best interests of its members.

We need legislation to reform this union and ensure that it gets back to focusing on its members interests rather than some of the activity that's been going on. Today I lodged a motion in the Senate, to be debated tomorrow, that seeks to bring our legislation to a vote on Thursday. The time for delay and political games is over. And I’d ask for your support in calling for the Coalition and crossbench to step up and join us in taking action.

Once we get through this debate, I recognise there are other issues to deal with. These include making sure that employers who are doing the wrong thing also are accountable for their actions. It’s important to recognise that if there are union officials taking bribes, there is an employer paying those bribes.

I’d welcome your suggestions on how we should deal with this. 

While it’s been a busy start for me, this government needs to keep a close track on the extensive reforms that we’ve introduced over the last two years.

As I said when I started in this job, we don't have any plans to introduce more reform around workplace conditions this term.

Our focus is on bedding down the changes that have passed through Parliament to make sure they’re working for both employees and businesses.

This is a critical stage – we need to make sure there are no unintended consequences.

There is the making of regulations and development of codes for a number of hot topics, including employee-like workers, road transport workers and criminalising wage theft.

Engagement from stakeholders such as yours will be critical to the success of these reforms.

And we haven’t limited our consultation to legislative reform.

I’m committed to hearing from you on a broad range of matters, as is my department.

Some of the conversations to date have focused on key topics such as:

• The statutory review of the Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave amendments,
• consideration of a national labour hire licencing scheme, and
• work on engineered stone and asbestos.

We look forward to engaging with you through this process.

My role is not just to help deliver on the extensive reforms this government has already put in place.

And it’s not just to respond to immediate concerns with CMFEU.

My job is to consult and to listen, to ensure Australian workers are better paid, in more secure and safer jobs, in thriving, successful businesses.

As I said in my first speech to the Senate, I believe our job here in Parliament is not to divide.

Our job is to help pull people closer together.

I want to create opportunities together, to forge a partnership between business, unions and government.

Tripartism continues to drive this government’s engagement with organisations such as yours. It’s what I did in my previous portfolio, when we formed the tripartite Agriculture Workforce Working Group, that included employer and union representatives of the ag sector – along with Government, and which delivered successful outcomes for our farmers, processors and their workers.

It’s a smarter way of creating new jobs, of modernising our economy, improving productivity and, importantly, providing economic security and fairness.

This, I’m sure, is something we all agree on.

Thank you, and I look forward to working with you.