Labor’s Failure to Consult Businesses for the Fair Work Amendment
TRANSCRIPT
31 July 2025
Mr KENNEDY (Cook): I'm moving an amendment to the amendment moved by the member for Wentworth, as circulated in my name, because this government has failed to meaningfully consult Australian small businesses on the impact of this bill. We're condemning the government for refusing to allow this bill to be referred to a parliamentary committee for proper scrutiny and stakeholder input.
No regulatory impact statement has been provided to assess how this will affect small business. The government can't even say—
The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Chesters ): Order, Member for Cook! Just a moment. The amendment hasn't been circulated. If you could, read it out to the House, and we can seek a seconder at the end of your contribution.
Mr KENNEDY: I move:
That all words after "House" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:
(1) notes the Government has failed to consult meaningfully with Australian small businesses on the impact of the Bill;
(2) condemns the Government for refusing to allow the bill to be referred to a parliamentary committee for proper scrutiny and stakeholder input;
(3) expresses concern that:
(a) no Regulatory Impact Statement has been provided to assess how the bill will affect small business employment and operating costs;
(b) the Government cannot say how many small businesses will be impacted by the proposed changes; and
(c) key industry stakeholders, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group, Australian Retailers Association and the Minerals Council of Australia, have warned the bill will undermine flexibility, increase compliance complexity and reduce productivity; and
(4) calls on the Government to:
(a) immediately release a Regulatory Impact Statement;
(b) publish modelling of the bill's economic and employment effects on small businesses;
(c) restore a clear consultation pathway for small business stakeholders; and
(d) amend the bill to ensure the Fair Work Commission retains sufficient flexibility to approve award variations that enable higher pay and simpler conditions where supported by both employers and employees".
Because of this failure of consultation, because this government has failed to get proper scrutiny or proper input and because there has been no regulatory impact statement to assess what the impact will be on small business, it is no surprise that under this government over 6,000 companies went into external administration in my home state of New South Wales. It's because of this failure to consult small business.
I see this failure to consult and what's actually happening every day in my electorate of Cook. If we look at Caringbah, a major retail site in the heart of my electorate that is now dilapidated, small businesses are leaving. Mavericks chicken shop has closed. The local dance studios have closed. It's not even just small businesses now closing because of this failure to consult business, like the government has done with this bill. For example, we have a former Franklins supermarket purchased by Aldi that has been closed for 11 years. They cannot open that and every day it is getting worse and worse. In the last financial year alone 6,000 closed.
We need a regulatory impact statement, because otherwise we won't know what the cost to small business will be. This government does not care about the cost to small business. They're riding roughshod over the process, with no transparent economic modelling.
Mr Bowen interjecting—
Mr KENNEDY: I'll take the interjection, because this man has done a lot of modelling. He modelled the energy prices, and he couldn't model those either. It's no surprise he doesn't want transparent economic modelling, because he doesn't want transparent energy modelling either. They don't believe in transparent modelling, because it might say something that they don't like. They know how to rig it—they know how to say it'll give you $275 off your energy bill—but they don't know how to do it properly. They haven't had real consultation with those who carry the payroll.
There's no flexibility. The Fair Work Commission can still award variations when both workers and employers agree to higher pay for simpler terms. These aren't radical demands. This is good governance and good process that respects small business. What's at stake? The businesses in Australia and the businesses in my home electorate of Cook don't oppose fair pay. They don't oppose penalty rates. They support their workers. They know the value of loyalty and hard work.
Every day in my home electorate I see businesses such as Stapleton Meats that put their employees first. They pay their employees first and pay themselves last. I've met business owners up and down Caringbah who are right on the edge. They're telling me they're three or six months away from closing. They're not paying themselves, they're making a loss and they keep that business open so they can help those people who work for them to pay their home loans and send their kids to school. These people feel left out of the conversation. They oppose this legislation. They oppose the complexity being heaped on their shoulders at a time when margins are shrinking and survival, not expansion, is the only goal. Small businesses are shrinking.
The small businesses in my electorate aren't asking for favours; they're just asking for fair process. They just want to be consulted. They just want to know how this bill will impact them when they are struggling. These small businesses in Caringbah that have got their backs against the wall, are fighting for survival and are trying to stay open are seeing businesses flee off that main street. I call on this Labor government, on the Labor state government and on the Labor council in the Sutherland shire to listen to them. Listen to their pleas for help. I hope you'll listen to this amendment. Let's avoid another Caringbah-style example of this government getting its way instead of enabling process that allows small business to be heard. Let's pass this amendment and give our small business a voice, not just a verdict.