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MEDIA RELEASE: Unions champion Senator Roberts’ call to ditch mandatory vaccines

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Senator Roberts calls for the National Cabinet to reverse its decision to force the COVID vaccine onto aged care workers.

Threats of a staff walk out against the vaccine is gathering momentum as NSW Health Services Union asks Governments to ensure the vaccine is voluntary.

Senator Roberts said, “My office has been flooded with calls and emails from aged care workers and many have said they will walk off the job before the September vaccination deadline.”

Members are approaching the union on a daily basis saying that they will walk out, leading to NSW Health Services Union Secretary Gerard Hayes voicing his concerns that the mandate could lead to ‘a major workforce crisis’ in the aged care sector.

The official advice on vaccines for expecting mothers has also ranged from caution to complete avoidance.

Senator Roberts added, “The government’s track record of inconsistent and confusing advice on the vaccine, which has bypassed Australian testing and gained the TGA’s provisional approval in an absurdly short period of time, it’s no wonder many people in the community are cautious.”

“Forcing people to choose between the mandated vaccine and a job – livelihood – is no way to address people’s concerns,” he said.

The government has provided indemnities to GP’s administering the vaccine and to vaccine manufacturers. 

Senator Roberts added, “If aged care employers aren’t willing to give an undertaking that they will compensate employees for any negative vaccine side affects how can any employee have confidence in this mandate?”

“Why should the Government not indemnify employers?”

“I support all Australians accessing their rightful informed consent regarding the vaccine. If we allow Governments to entrench a two-tier system of citizens based on vaccination status through mandatory edicts, this becomes a short path to medical tyranny,” he said.

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What we need to fix Industrial Relations

The biggest problem with the current Industrial Relations system is that it is too complex for most employees or Mum and Dad businesses to understand.

Complexity only helps fill IR lawyers’ pockets and make union bosses look busy. We need to simplify the entire IR system to restore the country’s productive capacity.

Transcript

Good news, Pauline and I have had a victory already in the industrial relations negotiations. Good industrial relations legislation is fundamental to rebuilding the productive capacity of Australian business. And for that we need to restore productive workplace relations between employees and employers.

That’s fundamental. The government claims its legislation, which will be before the Senate in March, will bring reform to create jobs and stimulate economic recovery after government-imposed COVID restrictions. I’m consulting with union bosses, industry groups, small business and many other groups on the government’s proposed bill.

My initial summary is that there is a long way to go yet, to get our support on the legislation. The stakeholders that I’ve listened to so far do not believe the legislation, as is, will deliver on reform, job creation, or economic recovery. For any chance to stimulate recovery and protect jobs, we need real improvement.

First and foremost, I’m passionate about positive employer-employee relationships and a fit-for-purpose IR system. From my experience my aims for real industrial relations reform include:

  • Firstly, protecting honest workers.
  • Secondly, protecting small business.
  • Thirdly, restoring our country’s productive capacity.

In summary, my view of the proposed legislation is that I do not support:

  • Firstly, complex legislation that is beyond the average small to medium business to understand and manage.
  • Secondly, more money being diverted to the IR club, the lawyers, the IR consultants, the union bosses, and industry associations, who profit from complicated legislation.
  • Thirdly, any change to the better off overall test, or the BOOT test, it needs to be left as it is to protect workers.

When we told the government we could not accept changes to the BOOT test, they backed down and agreed to leave it as it is. One Nation does support: Scaled back simple fit-for-purpose IR legislation. A better deal for small business.

IR legislation needs to be made more accessible for this vital sector of our economy, the biggest employer in Australia. Thirdly, a clearer definition of casual and the right to remain as a casual with appropriate casual loadings. And fourthly, protection of casuals’ back pay entitlements without double-dipping.

As I’ve already said, one of the most important elements of IR should be the employer and employee relationship, without the interference of the IR club. I’ve made a submission to the inquiry on the industrial relation legislation, and I’ve contributed to questions at the hearing in Townsville.

And it was pleasing to hear that even the union bosses are fed up with the excessive complexities in industrial relations and the need for lawyers. They wanna get rid of lawyers. There must be a better way and it’s time for a change. We know that small to medium sized businesses have suffered the most under government-imposed COVID restrictions.

And One Nation is committed to a better deal for small business and honest workers. While IR is a key piece of the bigger picture Australia needs for lasting economic recovery, of more importance are energy security and energy affordability, investment in skills development and a fair, honest and transparent tax system for individuals and businesses, and eliminating overregulation.

One Nation continues to listen to stakeholders to ensure we can bring about the improvements that are needed to make the legislation more useful for Australia’s economic recovery. Better for business, better for jobs, and better for honest workers.

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Bill “trashes” casual regime for small business: One Nation

This article is re-published with the permission of Workplace Express.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation says the Morrison Government’s Omnibus IR Bill is “sadly lacking” on a range of key measures, including proposed changes to casual employment and the Better Off Overall Test. 

The party’s IR spokesperson, Senator Malcolm Roberts, has called for substantial amendments to the Bill, arguing it will “hurt many businesses and affect the working conditions and take-home pay of many everyday Australians”. 

The senator says in a submission to a Senate inquiry into the Fair Work Act Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) that the changes are aimed mostly at big business and the “IR Club” rather than small to medium employers. 

“We do not see genuine reform,” he says. 

“This is more words in legislation, more rules and more vagueness in complex definitions. 

“The outcome of this Omnibus IR Bill is that it will not create certainty for people who just want to get back to work. 

“It will add to the complexity of business life. 

“Australia’s industrial relations system no longer serves employers and employees; it serves the people who benefit from its complexity. 

“The IR Club, the class action lawyers, union bosses and the big employer organisations all earn money which could be better spent by employers and employees on securing jobs and income.” 

With Labor and the Greens opposed to the Bill, its fate looks set to turn on the votes of five crossbench senators – Jacqui Lambie Network’s Jacqui Lambie, PHON’s Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff and South Australian Independent Rex Patrick. 

Senator Roberts, a former coal mine manager and engineer, has long complained that big employers have abused casual work arrangements in the coal industry through the use of long-term labour hire arrangements (see Related Article). 

The Bill’s proposed definition of casual employment determines an employee’s status based only on the original offer made to the employee, without taking into account “any subsequent conduct of the parties”. 

Senator Roberts argues in the submission that IR Minister Christian Porter is “trashing the ‘long term flexible but predictable’ casual employment arrangements that suited many small business employers and employees”. 

He is doing so, he says, because of abuse by “big business”, citing as an example labour hire arrangements in the coal mining industry. 

Senator Roberts says the legislation will mean that a person is a casual employee if the employer makes an offer of employment on the basis of no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work according to an agreed pattern of work. 

“It is arguable that a consequence of these provisions as they are envisaged is that, if an employer does not make an offer in the exact terms (be it in writing or orally), the employee will, at law, be considered a permanent employee as they will not fall within the definition of casual employee. 

“Many employers, especially small business employers, are unlikely to offer casual employment to a person in such clearly defined terms. 

“This is particularly the case when an offer of employment is made orally which is more common than formalised employment arrangements.” 

The senator says that an employer might consider they have offered casual employment but, if they have failed to meet the prescriptive terms, that employment will be permanent by default. 

“This is likely to lead to significant confusion among employers and employees about their employment relationship and the entitlements that derive from the characterisation of the relationship,” says Roberts. 

“Conversely, an employee who falls within the definition of casual employee at the commencement of employment but whose nature of employment subsequently changes, is nonetheless deemed to continue to be a casual employee. 

“While casual work is not for everyone, rewriting it as the Government has done may have many unintended consequences for everyday Australians, such as pay cuts and rosters that change from week to week to protect the employer from creating a ‘firm advanced commitment’.” 

BOOT change also problematic

Senator Roberts also argues against the Bill seeking to allow a two-year window for the FWC to approve enterprise agreements that do not meet the BOOT where the employer has been affected by the pandemic. 

He says the Fair Work Act already allows the Commission to approve an agreement that does not pass the BOOT if it is satisfied that, because of exceptional circumstances, the approval of the agreement would not be contrary to the public interest. 

The proposed change is an “unnecessary amendment and, furthermore, significantly dilutes the fundamental protection of the BOOT.” 

“I propose that the government keeps the BOOT as it is and ensures that the FW Commission has better governance to review and to improve agreements – due diligence not a rubber stamp.” 

Senator Roberts also calls for the Morrison Government to:

  • create a dedicated small business award or enterprise agreement;
  • simplify the small business code and reduce the maximum compensation payable by small businesses in dismissal cases from 6 months to 3 months;
  • review and rewrite the entire Fair Work Act and IR structure, after the two-year deadline for the flexible arrangements expires in about 2023;
  • focus the efforts of FWO inspectors primarily on solutions rather than penalties; and
  • introducing longer-term greenfields agreements for “tier 2” Australian construction companies.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation submission to the Senate inquiry into the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020, February 2020

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