The Coalition's Policy to Improve The Fair Work Laws

The Coalition’s Policy to
Improve the Fair Work Laws will improve the prospects of higher real wages
for Australian workers, lift standards of behaviour in trade unions, make it
easier for small business to employ people and lift Australia’s productive
capacity.

Our policy is part of the
Coalition’s Real Solutions Plan to create one million more jobs, lift real
wages and have more competitive Australian businesses.

All Australians want harmonious,
productive and smart workplaces where effort is rewarded, loyalty is encouraged
and where businesses and their employees share in the success of the
enterprise.

We want to see the take home
wages of Australian workers increase, just like they did under the last
Coalition government.  From 1997 to 2007, average real wages grew by 21.5
per cent.

Under our policy, no Australian
worker will be worse off and businesses will be encouraged to grow.

The priority of our Real
Solutions Plan is to build a stronger, more productive and diverse economy that
delivers more jobs, higher wages and better services for all Australians. 
That is why we can say with certainty: No Australian worker or business will go
backwards because of this policy.

This policy will, however, make
life more difficult for militant building unions and dishonest union officials
who continue to abuse their position.  We make no apology for
that. Australians have seen enough from the excesses of the Health
Services Union and allegations surrounding the AWU to know something is very
wrong with the standards and culture of some important national unions. We know
that those who profit from such abuses will fight against these common sense
changes.

The Coalition’s Policy to Improve
the Fair Work Laws will:

·        Keep
and improve the Fair Work laws – including the independent umpire

·        Re-establish
the Australian Building and Construction Commission

·        Provide
better protection for members of Registered Organisations

·        Provide
practical help to small business workplaces

·        Guarantee
workers the right to access fair flexibility

·        Create
realistic timeframes for Greenfield agreements

·        Ensure
union right of entry provisions are sensible and fair

·        Promote
harmonious, sensible and productive enterprise bargaining

·        Ensure
the laws work for everyone and an independent review by the respected
Productivity Commission will be undertaken

·        Deliver
a genuine paid parental leave scheme and lift female participation rates in
Australian workplaces

·        Ensure
workplace bullying is comprehensively addressed

·        Urgently
review the Remuneration Tribunal for the trucking industry 

·        Implement
many recommendations from the Fair Work Review Panel report

·        Give
underpaid workers a better deal.

Our policy will not
re-introduce Australian Workplace Agreements, nor will it weaken safety nets or
cause any Australian worker to go backwards.  There won’t be another WorkChoices
– it is dead, buried and cremated.  The past is the past and we will not
go back to it.

Our policy seeks to improve the
current Fair Work laws by providing common sense solutions to practical
problems such as ensuring right of entry provisions are sensible and not
abused, providing practical help to small businesses within the Office of the
Fair Work Ombudsman and tackling lawlessness on building sites and construction
projects by re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

These sensible and common sense
measures will address the flexibility, militancy and productivity problems that
exist within the operation of the current system.  Our changes are about
helping our workplace relations system work better.    

Unlike Labor, who say one thing
before an election and do another thing after it, we will keep our word. 
We will not deliver less than our policy and we will go no further.  If
elected, these are the only changes that an incoming government will make in a
first term. 

The centrepiece of our economic
agenda is to create one million new jobs within five years and two million jobs
within ten years.  We will achieve this aim through dynamic, harmonious
and productive workplaces where employers and employees share the benefits of
growth.

It is through our commitment to
deliver stronger workplaces, lower taxes and more efficient government that the
next Coalition government will deliver a strong, prosperous economy and a safe,
secure Australia.