Australian House of Representatives grows heated over industrial relations legislation
{{date|November 3, 2005}}

[[Australia]]n [[w:Australian industrial relations legislation, 2005|industral relations reform legislation]]
made up of 700 pages of bill legislation and 500 additional pages of explanatory memoranda was introduced into the Federal [[w:House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] November 2, where the Opposition heatedly attempted to address their perceived problem of the Government's lack of discussion and debate over the matter.

The [[w:first reading|first reading]] of the bill was the first order of the day, and when [[w:Kevin Andrews|Kevin Andrews]] tried to do so, Opposition member [[w:Stephen Smith|Stephen Smith]], responsible for workplace relations, immediately moved a motion deferring the bills to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation. The [[w:Leader of the House|Leader of the House]], [[Tony Abbott]] moved that Smith and the necessary supporter &mdash; viz., [[w:Julia Gillard|Julia Gillard]] &mdash; be not further heard ([[w:cloture|cloture]]). The Government's majority in the House ensured that this would happen. However, Opposition members attempted to use House standing orders necessitating that copies of the bill to be "available to Members", with argument arising whether "available to Members" meant all members or simply whether some copies should be available; this ended up in a dissent motion moved against the [[w:Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]].

Later, in a heated [[w:Question Time|Question Time]], where six members of the Opposition, ([[w:Kelly Hoare|Kelly Hoare]], [[w:Julia Irwin|Julia Irwin]], [[Anthony Albanese]], [[w:Bernard Ripoll|Bernard Ripoll]], [[w:Catherine King|Catherine King]], and [[w:Gavan O'Connor|Gavan O'Connor]]), were removed from the Chamber during Question Time under standing orders for disruption &mdash; [[w:Jill Hall|Jill Hall]] quipped that she was "glad to be still here to ask [her] question" &mdash; nearly all questions to the Government put by the Opposition, the subsequent time for matters of public importance, and some members in the adjournment debate, was all on the topic of the industrial relations reform. 

To implement and fund the legislation, the government will "spend an additional $486million on industrial relations changes over four years, or $121million a year. This spending would be in addition to the present annual budget of $86million." said an unnamed government source for ''The Australian''.

The government will need to use its [[w:Corporations Act 2001|corporation powers]] to remove the powers from the states to alter the award conditions and other employee employer related conditions. But the [[w:New South Wales|New South Wales]] premier [[w:Morris Iemma (Australian politician)|Morris Iemma]] has received legal advice that the legislation maybe unconstitutional, the reason being its being used to end the role of the states and territories [[w:Australian States|Australian States]] in the industrial relations system. "It is our view that the Commonwealth is misusing this law to achieve exactly what it was designed to prevent", Iemma said. Mr Iemma will be challenging the changes in the high court with [[w:Peter Beattie|Peter Beattie Premier]] of Queensland supporting his challenge in the [[w:High Court of Australia|High Court]].

{{Haveyoursay}}
== Related news ==
*{{Wikinews|title=Australian Government to introduce IR reforms next week|date=October 24, 2005}}
== Sister links ==
{{sisters
|Australian industrial relations legislation, 2005
}}
== Sources ==
{{original}}
* Australian House of Representatives ''[http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/dailys/dr021105.pdf Hansard]'', November 2, 2005.

*{{source|url=http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2005/11/02-1552-6392.html
|title=The 1200-page IR war
|author=Christian Kerr
|pub=Crikey.com.au
|date=November 2 2005}}

*{{source|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17113426%255E2702,00.html
|title= Howard doubles cash for IR bodies
|author= Brad Norington
|pub=The Australian
|date=November 2, 2005}}

*{{source|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1497072.htm
|title=Andrews dismisses IR court challenge plans
|author= 
|pub=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
|date=November 3, 2005}}

{{Publish}}

{{archive}}

[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Australia]]
[[Category:Oceania]]
[[Category:Tony Abbott]]
[[Category:WorkChoices]]
[[Category:Morris Iemma]]
[[Category:Anthony Albanese]]
[[Category:Queensland]]
Australian industral relations reform legislation
made up of 700 pages of bill legislation and 500 additional pages of explanatory memoranda was introduced into the Federal House of Representatives November 2, where the Opposition heatedly attempted to address their perceived problem of the Government's lack of discussion and debate over the matter.

The first reading of the bill was the first order of the day, and when Kevin Andrews tried to do so, Opposition member Stephen Smith, responsible for workplace relations, immediately moved a motion deferring the bills to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation. The Leader of the House, Tony Abbott moved that Smith and the necessary supporter — viz., Julia Gillard — be not further heard (cloture). The Government's majority in the House ensured that this would happen. However, Opposition members attempted to use House standing orders necessitating that copies of the bill to be "available to Members", with argument arising whether "available to Members" meant all members or simply whether some copies should be available; this ended up in a dissent motion moved against the Speaker of the House.

Later, in a heated Question Time, where six members of the Opposition, (Kelly Hoare, Julia Irwin, Anthony Albanese, Bernard Ripoll, Catherine King, and Gavan O'Connor), were removed from the Chamber during Question Time under standing orders for disruption — Jill Hall quipped that she was "glad to be still here to ask her question" — nearly all questions to the Government put by the Opposition, the subsequent time for matters of public importance, and some members in the adjournment debate, was all on the topic of the industrial relations reform. 

To implement and fund the legislation, the government will "spend an additional $486million on industrial relations changes over four years, or $121million a year. This spending would be in addition to the present annual budget of $86million." said an unnamed government source for The Australian.

The government will need to use its corporation powers to remove the powers from the states to alter the award conditions and other employee employer related conditions. But the New South Wales premier Morris Iemma has received legal advice that the legislation maybe unconstitutional, the reason being its being used to end the role of the states and territories Australian States in the industrial relations system. "It is our view that the Commonwealth is misusing this law to achieve exactly what it was designed to prevent", Iemma said. Mr Iemma will be challenging the changes in the high court with Peter Beattie Premier of Queensland supporting his challenge in the High Court.


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Politics and conflicts Australia Oceania Tony Abbott WorkChoices Morris Iemma Anthony Albanese Queensland