AAP General News (Australia)
02-15-1999
FED: Colston vote important to unfair dismissal laws
CANBERRA, Feb 15 AAP - Independent Queensland MP Mal Colston's vote will be critical when
the Senate decides this week whether to overturn the government's
new unfair dismissal
regulations for small business.
All other parties and independents are firmly opposed to the
new regulation which means
new workers at firms with a maximum of 15 employees will have no redress under federal laws if
they believe they have been unfairly dismissed.
Last week a spokesman for Senator Colston would not confirm whether he would vote against
the changes.
The Senate's other independent, Senator Brian Harradine, today joined Labor, the Australian
Democrats and the Greens in firmly opposing the measure which is expected to come up in Senate
business today.
Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith effectively bypassed parliament just before
Christmas by imposing the changes as a regulation after the legislation was twice rejected by
the Senate.
Senator Harradine told reporters today Mr Reith's move was one of the issues which angered
him.
"This is just part of a plan by Peter Reith to treat workers simply as units of production
without representation and without protection and you don't expect me to go along with that
...
"Furthermore, to do what he has done and that is put through a regulation, trying to
enforce a regulation when the parliament has already rejected the bill is a smart alec
approach... it is an unparliamentary approach to a parliamentary democracy."
Democrats Leader Meg Lees said Mr Reith was pushing the regulation even though he had not
made it clear to small business that the government's major workplace legislation had
significantly changed the industrial scene in regard to unfair dismissal.
She said it was unfortunate that surveys, which showed there was still concern among
business groups about the measure, were done when businesses did not have information on the
changes which had occurred.
"I call on Mr Reith to give us evidence of where he has actually gone out to small
business, gone out to the community and told them of the changes we have already made to
unfair dismissal," Senator Lees said.
She said Senator Colston had supported the Senate when it voted down the measure.
"Senator Colston has said in the past that not only is he concerned about the issue but he
is also concerned about the way in which the minister went behind the Senate's back to do it,"
she said.
"So we are reasonably confident (of his vote) as confident as we can be," Senator Lees
said.
AAP msl/sco/br
KEYWORD: SMALL
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