Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

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PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT BILL 2011 1714 COUNCIL Thursday, 2 June 2011 Mr P. DAVIS — The interjection is that they are not doing it. This legislation has not yet been passed; we are here debating it today. If it is passed, as I hope it will be, then obviously those councils will be able to make an application to have a different holiday, and that day may be a day across the whole municipality or it may be two half-days. It could be different half-days or whole days in different parts of the municipality. Ms Pennicuik need not be confused about that; she need not go outside Southern Metropolitan Region and be confused by it at all. The people in my region of eastern Victoria and the various municipalities of Gippsland are pleased that their local council can reflect their will — that the Yarram community can have a Yarram show day or half-day, that the Sale community can have a Sale show day or half-day or that the Maffra community can have a half-day or a whole day for the Maffra show. That is what local people would like to think will happen. That is what this bill will deliver, and the only people who will be confused about it will be people who simply do not relate to local community events and the significance of them as regional events. I am sure there are very important local events in Ms Pennicuik’s metropolitan region, but these are whole towns or districts that focus around one major event in a community, be it an agricultural show, a race day or a cup day — major red-letter days, you might say. All the bill seeks to do is give those communities some flexibility, and if they do not want to choose that option and they do nothing, the default position is that the holiday will be Melbourne Cup Day. Everybody wins; everybody gets a public holiday. If they want to have some discretion, they can make local arrangements to suit them locally. That is not confusing to anybody but somebody who lives in Southern Metropolitan Region, I suspect, because the people in the country know exactly what is going on. If they know there is a half-day holiday in their local community to reflect the day of their important icon event, race meeting or agricultural show, they will simply choose to trade or not trade on that day according to the nature of their business. For example, it might be a business that supports the activity of an agricultural show — it might be somebody selling saddles, bridles, grain, hay or other agricultural supplies, in which case they will think, ‘It is a good day for us to trade today because all the farmers will be in town’. All that flexibility is retained. Mr Ondarchie interjected. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT — Order! Mr Davis may think everyone is a winner, but the Deputy President does not feel like he is winning right at the moment in terms of controlling this committee stage. However, I intend to win, and I intend to bring some order into this debate. I ask all members to cooperate in relation to providing some order to this debate. We have spent well over an hour on clause 1, and I think we are ranging over the same issues repeatedly. I will not allow that to continue. I will also remind all members, in particular Mr Ondarchie, that it is disorderly to interject and particularly disorderly to interject out of one’s place. Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I know everybody fell about the room laughing when I said that, but I was actually quite serious. The Kennett government did take away public holidays — Easter Tuesday and show days. There used to be 13 public holidays, and what I was pointing out was that rural communities are now having to choose between a race day and an agricultural show day as full-day public holidays. It can either have one or the other or two half-days. I think that is confusing, and I suggest that show days be reinstated. Clause agreed to; clause 2 agreed to. Clause 3 Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — Creating a conducive business environment is important for small and medium enterprises, as it is for most businesses. I am concerned about the regulatory burden, which obviously comes under the heading of creating a conducive business environment. I am concerned about the regulatory burden on small businesses as a result of having half-days in a number of places. Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — It is my understanding, based on my briefing — and it is written here — that clause 3 is consequential on clause 4. However, I am happy to answer the question by pre-empting what is in clause 4, because clause 4 crosses over with clause 3. On the issue of the impact on businesses in regional Victoria, the businesses in the townships that may choose alternative arrangements are themselves active participants in their local communities and form a part of the local events support network. These businesses often provide organisers, committee members, volunteers, attendees and vital sponsorship. Metropolitan residents may overlook the important
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT BILL 2011 Thursday, 2 June 2011 COUNCIL 1715 business benefits that local shows and race days can provide. As well as a means of showcasing local produce, skills and enterprise, agricultural and pastoral shows are networking opportunities for many small, farming and family businesses that are geographically isolated. The proposed amendments are based on the provisions of the Public Holidays Act 1993 that had existed for many years — in many cases, decades — before the Labor government’s 2008 changes. Regional businesses experienced great confusion in 2008, 2009 and 2010 when the former government first took away their ability to enjoy longstanding half-day and part-shire arrangements. Their confusion only grew when the government subsequently backed down and gazetted a job lot of part-shire arrangements but not half-day arrangements in nine regional councils for 2010 only. I am led to believe, in fact, that so great was the confusion that some regional councils just continued to incorrectly gazette their pre-2008 holiday arrangements in spite of the fact that the act had been changed and the flexibility taken away. The longstanding local events that have traditionally been held in lieu of Melbourne Cup Day are relevant to particular parts of a council’s municipality and are well understood without uncertainty. In terms of the regional tourism impacts and the opportunities for businesses in that context, the annual AMP show or the annual race day would provide the entertainment, civic and business spotlight of the year. Not to diminish the significance of Melbourne Cup Day, but local events can have greater relevance and contribute more to social cohesion in a country town than a race meeting in a far-off capital city. Regional Victorians have suffered devastating floods and before those bushfires. There could be few events more uplifting than the annual local show day or race day that allows regional residents the opportunity to enjoy and celebrate the resilience of their communities. Local events with regional colour encourage tourist visitors and increase economic activity in a town and region. If you want an example of that, Mr Philip Davis’s contribution was from the heart in terms of his understanding of the importance of these events in various parts of the shires. We do not resile from that. We think this is important for business. Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — Let me put this another way, and a yes or no answer would suffice. Has the minister had a briefing from the department with respect to the potential impact of this bill on the regulatory burden faced by small and medium-sized enterprises? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — Did the member talk about regulatory impact? I just want to get some clarity as to what he means by regulatory impact. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT — Order! Would Mr Somyurek like to clarify his question? He is not required to; he is invited to. Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — Does the minister want me to clarify the question? The DEPUTY PRESIDENT — Order! Mr Somyurek is invited to clarify, but he has asked his question; he does not have to. That is what I am saying. Mr SOMYUREK — I would have thought it was pretty obvious. There are all types of issues involved, such as the question of who is going to police this. Who is going to police whether shops are open or not? In terms of worker entitlements, what awards will employers pay workers? There are all sorts of red-tape issues involved. They might include car parking or a whole range of issues. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT — Order! Is the minister happy now? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — I am, and it is important to understand exactly where the member is heading. His question is about workers’ entitlements, and that is fair enough. I would have looked at it in terms of the impact on the employer, and I guess that is where we sit in terms of difference. For me it is important to understand how this impacts on employers as well. Equally, however, it is important to ensure the workplace arrangements are maintained — that is crucial as well. It is important that I put on the record that while the commonwealth’s Fair Work Act 2009 provides a basic statutory entitlement to eight public holidays, it also allows for the gazettal of substitute or additional public holidays by state and territory governments. Therefore, the declaration and substitution of public holidays is primarily a matter for state laws. In contrast, employees’ entitlements in respect of public holidays are determined primarily by the commonwealth’s laws and awards and agreements made under them. Payment for any work performed on a public holiday, including public holiday penalty rates, is determined by any applicable employment contracts, awards and agreements made under the commonwealth laws. There are many, possibly thousands, of employment agreements in place across Victoria, and I suggest it
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