Mr CADMAN (12:18 PM) —I have listened with a great deal of interest to the professional presentation from the opposition side—professional to the degree that people elected at the last election from the Australian Labor Party have come in here with a professional knowledge of industrial relations. What they have done is argue very competently the cause that they see and have worked in for such a long period.

But what they have demonstrated by their argument is the needless complexity and involvement of bureaucracies—large numbers of unions and employer funded people, who have built a structure that has been referred to as the `industrial relations club'. This is a whole group of people pretending, in some instances, to have a great compassion towards the worker or to the needs of the employer, but absolutely confusing, complicating and legalising a process that should be a simple matter of relationship between employers and employees.

This government knows that process needs an underpinning of certain standards, which should be there at all times to protect employees against bosses who may want to exploit their employees. There should be a minimum standard of conduct that everybody should employ and be forced to adopt. This legislation goes along a very commendable path. This legislation says, `There is blanket legislation Australia wide to cover the superannuation needs of employees in every industry.' The previous government set that in place with all of its shortcomings as described by the previous speaker, the honourable member for Lalor. All of those shortcomings were in Labor Party legislation.

The problems with small amounts and people moving on were all set in place by the Australian Labor Party when they set up this legislation in a deal with the ACTU. For years the government absolutely refused, despite pleas from the then opposition, to change the amount that people could have; they refused to see that those small amounts were preserved; and they refused to have the insurance companies acknowledge that their charges were extraordinarily high on small amounts, so that people were having declining benefits, instead of increasing benefits, from small amounts of superannuation.

We sat on that side, where you in the Labor Party opposition now sit, and begged the government to change the processes. The government did nothing. Treasurer after Treasurer ignored these pleas for year after year and did nothing. The shortcomings that you have complained about have been changed, improved, modified by the current government. The small amounts management process has been changed and the rights of workers have been changed. The government has said, `We want to go on with the simplification program, by removing superannuation as one of the allowable matters under awards', reducing the allowable matters from 20 to 19—a huge change. The Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business is entering the chamber, the capable man who instigated this as part of the changes that the government has introduced to industrial relations. We want to simplify the industrial award process but protect and continue consent agreements where they are in place. Nothing could be fairer.

I believe that this government has bent over backwards. The crocodile tears that have come from the opposition spokesman and speakers on the opposition side are fallacious. You are trying to whip up a case amongst the union movement, union employees and union bosses when there is no case to be whipped up. The workers of Australia are going to be well looked after. This minister has been thoughtful in drafting this legislation not only to change and simplify the award arrangements but also to provide a transition period so the change can come into place easily and sensibly where award matters are affected.

Having protected the employees of Australia with umbrella legislation that guarantees payments and contributions to their superannuation by employers, the government has now sought to simplify the factors that can be negotiated as part of allowable matters in awards. This is a very sensible and thoughtful process, and one that ought to be endorsed by the whole parliament because it moves Australia to a simpler and more humane process in the relationship between employers and employees. We are not in the Dark Ages of sweatshops. There are plenty of laws protecting that process. Where people transgress, they ought to be hammered hard—I agree with what speakers on the opposition side said in regard to that. That is the government's intention. The allowable matters protect employees. I thank the House for the opportunity to express a view and I welcome the minister to sum up.