Senator Eric Abetz

By leave, I move: That the Senate take note of the letter from the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

The coalition has a very proud and long history of supporting timber workers, especially Tasmanian timber workers.

So when the Greens, through their increasingly faltering leader, moved their ill considered motion asking about Coalition support for the Tasmanian timber industry, we on the Coalition side were of course very happy to oblige and support the motion.

The Prime Minister must explain why Fair Work Australia refused NSW Police’s request for a meeting to discuss the Craig Thomson matter.

At the same time as Ms Gillard was saying Police inquiries should be allowed to run their course, Fair Work Australia was refusing to meet with NSW State Crime Command to discuss the Thomson issue.

This is a very bad look.

The question is, whatever its own investigatory constraints, why didn’t Fair Work Australia do everything to cooperate with the NSW Police?

After all, at this stage Fair Work Australia had spent two and a half years investigating these matters.

It is therefore imperative that Ms Gillard provide a detailed explanation of why – on the face of documents obtained under Freedom of Information – Fair Work Australia refused NSW Police’s request for a meeting to discuss the Craig Thomson matter.

The documents obtained under FOI also show that – as at January 2011 - Fair Work Australia had spent over $320,000 on external legal and accounting advice in connection with its inquiry into the Health Services Union – matters Senator Ronaldson and I have pursued and will continue pursue at Senate Estimates.

These investigations into the Health Services Union have now been going on for nigh on three years with no conclusion and have incurred considerable costs. 

This is a disgrace.

These are matters of such seriousness that the Opposition will explore having the former General Manager of Fair Work Australia,  Mr Lee – who was promoted to the position of Fair Work Commissioner last September - brought before a Senate Estimates committee to explain his conduct.

It is also a matter of concern that Fair Work Australia refused to release these documents - even refusing to say whether or not they existed – until intervention by the Information Commissioner.

Senator Ronaldson and I will continue to hold the Government accountable for its inaction and obfuscation on the Craig Thomson issue.

Yes, the opposition does oppose the intergovernmental agreement, as does the fine craft and design sector of the industry in Tasmania, as does the Tasmanian Minerals Council, as does the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, as does Timber Communities Australia (Tasmanian Division), as does the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as does the Tourism Industry Council, as does the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania and as does the Greens donor, the AMWU, and the Australian Workers Union.

If we as a coalition have to side with the trade unions and the business interests and the small sector of this industry then we are proud to stand with them shoulder to shoulder.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s release today of a report into audits conducted in the retail sector over the last year shows that there is still a huge level of confusion with Labor's so-called 'modern awards' two years after implementation said Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Senator Eric Abetz.

The Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said today that “many employers underpay as the result of a lack of information or they make mistakes interpreting the information they have”.