Senator MARSHALL (6:47 PM) —In following the debate this evening in relation to these amendments it is worth refocusing on one of the significant roles of the Industrial Relations Commission in resolving industrial disputes. The parties often go to the Industrial Relations Commission to assist them to find common ground in order to avoid escalation of industrial action. Part of the role of the commission is to enable the parties to engage in a full, frank and open dialogue in order that the commission can assist the parties in finding that common ground, to avoid the escalation of any disputation. The instigation of penalties and sanctions does nothing to assist that process; in fact, it will retard the process. Ultimately, if people are fearful of presenting their views of a potential dispute frankly and honestly as they see it before the commission, because of the inadvertent omission or the fact that they may not be fully aware of all the facts when they are presenting their case, they will be discouraged from using the commission to resolve those disputes. We will find that people will avoid it. When people are summonsed to the commission, they will refuse to cooperate fully and frankly and the commission will be rendered useless.

The commission plays a positive role. As a former union official I have appeared before the Industrial Relations Commission on hundreds of occasions. I can say to the credit of many of the commissioners that they work tirelessly to assist the parties to come together. Often it is a matter of engaging in that full and frank debate so that all sides of an argument are put on the table; misunderstandings are then sorted out and solutions are found. More often than not, all parties are satisfied with the resolution of that dispute. But there is no way that the parties would be able to reach any such agreements if they felt intimidated or fearful of engaging in full and frank discussion before the commission.

Progress reported.