Minister for Industrial Relations

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:12): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier retain confidence in his Minister for Industrial Relations? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: On 2 June 2022, with limited—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Mawson!

Mr COWDREY: —notice, the minister introduced a bill to the other place to amend the Return to Work Act. Among the immediate reactions, unions and Labor's own state council called for the bill to be withdrawn.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: That's a different body.

Mr COWDREY: I have a lot less to do with it than you, Tom, fortunately.

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens, order!

Mr COWDREY: Pardon me, it's state executive, sir.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton, you will put your question.

Mr COWDREY: Among the immediate reactions, unions and Labor's own executive council called for the bill to be withdrawn, with the Law Society, on 9 June, noting also that it among many others had not been consulted. Yesterday, on 14 June, the bill was withdrawn and the government gave notice that another bill would be introduced but in this place and not led by the minister.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (15:14): I thank the member for Colton for his question because it provides an opportunity to respond on what is a really important issue of public policy and how the various parties in this place conduct themselves on matters that pertain to industrial relations.

Let me start with one of the things that the member for Colton raised in his question. He just said on the record, which will be verified by Hansard, that he's very grateful for the fact that he has nothing to do with the union movement or has less to do with it than us.

We on this side of the house have a fundamentally different view about how industrial relations should operate. I'm a firm believer that government policy should be seeking to achieve, particularly in IR, a balance between the interests of capital and labour. That means that on this side of the house we believe that unions have a seat at the table, just as businesses have a seat at the table. What we have been doing on this side of the house, over the course of the next—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: On this side of the house, what we have been doing very diligently over the course of the last few weeks, if not months, is working very closely with both business and unions to try to solve a problem that has been left to us by the former government.

Let's just take a moment to expand on the facts that have actually led us to the position that we currently find ourselves in. The first Summerfield judgement was handed down in early 2019, circa three years ago. Since then—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and over the course of the last three years, the former government have dutifully ignored decision after decision by the industrial tribunal and courts that have confronted this issue.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton! The member for Colton is called to order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: So much so that in 2021, when a final determination was made by the highest court in the State of South Australia, this government's response was to do nothing. Subsequently, the government sat back and watched leave being sought in the High Court that was subsequently rejected, and again what did the government do? Absolutely nothing. Soon after the change of government, we received advice—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley! The member for Unley is disorderly. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We received advice that without government action the WorkCover levy was going to go up to 2.2 per cent. Presumably, those on the opposite side of the house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —thought that was a perfectly reasonable course of events. They were utterly sanguine about the prospect of that substantial levy increase to be imposed upon businesses. We weren't going to allow that to occur. Unlike those opposite who claim to be the voice of small business—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —they did absolutely nothing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —absolutely nothing. They utterly—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —relinquished their responsibility to soured economic policy, whereas on this side of the house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —we have been working very diligently to respond, and now what we will see is the introduction of a piece of legislation that has the support of both the trade union movement and employees—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members to my left!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and employers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I look forward to those opposite now having to get off the fence and having to make a decision about where you stand. Of course, those opposite can continue to evade. They can evade briefings, they can evade having to make decisions for as long as you like, but the people of South Australia will know—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and we look forward to seeing exactly how you respond when you have to make a decision in due course and having to vote on the bill.