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Monday, 3 March 2003
Page: 8901


Senator IAN CAMPBELL (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) (6:25 PM) —The government agrees with the opposition that reinstatement should in fact be the primary remedy, and the act already makes reinstatement the primary remedy. The government, however, believes that the way the amendment proposes to upgrade that fails to recognise the reality, particularly in small business, that reinstatement may not be an appropriate remedy because the employment relationship may well have broken down in such a way that it was not able to be put back together again. I think it is fair to say that, in small businesses, often employers and employees are working closely together, often in the same room or sharing the same counter—or even in the same coolroom, Senator Murray—and that, where the relationship has broken down irreconcilably, forcing a reinstatement may not be in the best interests of anybody. So we think the act at the moment strikes the right balance and we seek to maintain that.