Mr BARRESI (10:46 AM) —As the honourable member for Dickson said in her comments, the purpose of the Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Bill 2001 is to apply the Criminal Code offence created and related provisions in legislation administered by this portfolio. It also make necessary amendments to these provisions to ensure compliance and consistency with the Criminal Code's general principles.

This bill is one of a series designed to apply the Criminal Code on a portfolio by portfolio basis. Its purpose is to ensure that existing criminal offence creating and related provisions continue to operate in the same manner as at present, after the application of the Criminal Code later this year. This legislation, like other bills before, and already passed by, the parliament, harmonises specific portfolio legislation in various ways. Firstly, the bill makes it clear that chapter 2 of the Criminal Code will apply to all offence provisions in portfolio legislation. Secondly, the bill will amend certain provisions to expressly provide that they are offences that attract strict liability—in other words, offences where the prosecution does not have to establish fault on the part of the defendant.

Under the Criminal Code, where it is intended that the strict liability standard apply to a particular offence or to an element of an offence this must be expressly stated in the relevant provision. In all other cases, the prosecution will be required to provide fault in relation to each element of the offence. Thirdly, the bill amends portfolio legislation to remove unnecessary duplication of the general offence provisions in the Criminal Code. It also improves the efficient and fair prosecution of offences by clarifying the physical elements of offences—that is, the precise conduct that is proscribed by an offence—and amending the inappropriate fault elements. There is a type of mental state required for a defendant to be found criminally liable.

Speaking on this bill also gives me an opportunity to briefly speak about the general workplace relations situation that this government has been pursuing over a number of years. I am very pleased that the minister is in the chamber for this debate, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the minister for his visit to the great Eastern suburbs electorate of Deakin last week, where we managed to hold a forum to discuss various workplace relations issues and small business issues. We had present at that meeting representatives from across the electorate from the various chambers of commerce—the Croydon Chamber of Commerce, the Ringwood Chamber of Commerce, the Whitehorse business group, the Blackburn Chamber of Commerce, the Whitehorse Road retail group, the Mitcham Trade Association.

If you listened to some of Labor's rhetoric, you would almost think that there is a groundswell of anger out there about this government's workplace relations changes and opposition to them. I have to say that the reception that the minister received from these people was excellent. I would like to thank him very much for his contribution that day, and I would also like to thank the businesspeople in the area for continuing to show support to this government.

I welcome the member for Dickson's comments that the ALP is going to support this legislation, provided that she gets a response—which I am sure the minister will get to very shortly—on the specific issue regarding occupational health and safety. It is just a pity that the ALP cannot see itself supporting other vital workplace relations legislation that has been brought before the parliament on numerous occasions over the last three years. The specific one I am referring to, which has gone backwards and forwards over successive years, has been the unfair dismissal legislation. I look forward to the ALP having a change of heart in due course on some of the other initiatives this government has introduced. I commend this bill to the House.