Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

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PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT BILL 2011 1718 COUNCIL Thursday, 2 June 2011 question: as the minister, will he and his department monitor the situation over the next year or two to make sure that people are getting their entitlements? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — My original statement stands in regard to the employment arrangements, and in terms of the second part, as Ms Pennicuik would know, the industrial relations matters were ceded to the commonwealth in 1996. That does not mean we do not hold the commonwealth to account, particularly in regard to the Fair Work Act 2009. I know this is an important issue for Ms Pennicuik, but as I said, this is about what could be potentially thousands of individual employment agreements that are in operation, and parties to those agreements will work through those processes as they should, and we would support that. Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — Perhaps as a fallback the minister’s department could write to the shires that declare half-days in different parts of their municipalities, drawing their attention to the need to make sure that the instruments that may apply in their municipalities are adhered to. Clause agreed to. Clause 4 Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — I am interested in whether there are any guidelines to which local councils may refer in making requests to the minister — for example, are they required to consult with any particular individuals, bodies, groupings or community associations, or is it just a simple decision of the local council? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — As I indicated earlier, in regard to consultation with regional councils, Ms Asher, the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, has written to the non-metropolitan councils advising them of the bill. Several councils, such as Buloke Shire Council and Pyrenees Shire Council, have commenced consultation with their communities to determine the preferred holiday arrangements. Early consultations will ensure that councils are ready in time for the 1 August 2011 notice period. Community consultations might include council correspondence, websites, township forums, progress associations, chambers of commerce, agricultural and pastoral societies, and media articles. A question was asked earlier about correspondence. Since the bill was introduced in April this year the government has received eight letters regarding the proposed amendments. This includes six letters from regional councils who supported the amendments and correspondence from — that is unusual! — the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association and the Trades Hall Council, both of whom indicated their opposition to the proposed changes. In regard to the regional councils, in that time over 25 articles have been published in regional newspapers generally indicating local support for the amendments. Melbourne Cup Day continues to be the automatic default public holiday across all of Victoria, meaning that all Victorians continue to enjoy the same number of holidays each year regardless of whether they live in regional Victoria or in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — I am seeking clarification, but the minister might have already answered this question. Are there any guidelines? Are councils compelled to consult with any particular bodies? Or would a decision of councils suffice? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — Mr Somyurek has scored 1 point, because that is a good question. There are no guidelines outlined, as there have not been in the past, but if Mr Somyurek looks at clause 4, which inserts new section 8A, he will find that subsection (2) states: A request under subsection (1) must — (a) be made at least 90 days before the Melbourne Cup Day to which the request relates; and (b) specify the day or 2 half-days of the substituted public holiday; and (c) specify the reasons for making the request. I gather councils are now going through a process of consultation in order to get some idea about whether they should proclaim either a full-day holiday or two half-day holidays and whether that should be on Melbourne Cup Day or on another day or days. As outlined in the bill, new section 8A(2)(c) states ‘specify the reasons for making the request’, which is new. Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — From the perspective of the minister are there any guidelines, as far as Mr Dalla-Riva is concerned, on which to base a final decision about whether or not requests are looked upon favourably? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — My advice is that previously no reasons had to be given for why
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT BILL 2011 Thursday, 2 June 2011 COUNCIL 1719 there was a request. The new subsection in this bill will provide for the minister to be given some rationale as to why those requests have been made. Mr Somyurek asked whether there were guidelines. My understanding is that there are no specific guidelines, but the provisions in this subsection will allow the minister to understand why certain councils might have made such a request. Ms Pulford said before that a lot of areas fall in and then fall out. At least now councils will need to provide a rationale to the minister as to why a certain road may be divided and why a particular council has made that decision. The expectation is that they will be mainly for A and P shows and for — — Mr P. Davis — Race days. Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA — Race days. Could you refresh my memory as to what A and P stands for? Mr P. Davis — Agricultural and pastoral. Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA — Agricultural and pastoral. I have A and P. I am a metropolitan member, as you know, but I was country born. I just remember it being the show. I think that explains it. Mr SOMYUREK (South Eastern Metropolitan) — This will be my last question. On what basis could the minister refuse such a request from a council? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — The technical explanation of the changes states that proposed section 8A(1) deals specifically with Melbourne Cup Day provisions that enable non-metropolitan councils to request either two half-day public holidays or one whole-day public holiday in lieu of the Melbourne Cup holiday, which would be applicable to the whole or a part of a municipality. This provision ensures that non-metropolitan councils may nominate Melbourne Cup Day itself as one of the two half-day public holidays. Proposed section 8(A)(2) is intended to facilitate requests made by non-metropolitan councils and to ensure that sufficient public notice — that is, 90 days — is given of the relevant substitute day or half-day. Proposed section 8(A)(2)(c) creates the new requirement that non-metropolitan councils must specify reasons to the minister for their request for alternative public holiday arrangements. This is intended, I am advised, to provide some guidance to Minister Asher when she is exercising her discretion in making a decision to declare the substitute day or two half-days as holidays. Previously there was no guidance in this regard. Subsections 8(A)(3) and 8(A)(4) are legislative safeguards intended to ensure that all Victorians continue to enjoy the standard number of 11 public holidays per annum. The intention of these provisions is to prohibit the nomination of weekends as substitute public holidays. In addition, these provisions clarify that where two half-days apply to part of a municipality, unless otherwise declared the other parts of the municipality will continue to enjoy Melbourne Cup Day as their default public holiday. Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I had a question hanging over from clause 1, if you remember. During the discussion on clause 1 the minister quoted from the Victoria Government Gazette which gazetted those public holidays as if that was proof of confusion, but all it was was a list. The 2008 bill provided that all of Victoria took Melbourne Cup Day as a public holiday unless otherwise specified, and what the Government Gazette list did was simply spell out where it was specified that it was not Melbourne Cup Day. My question to the minister is: under this bill, given that the 90-day notice and default position remains but local councils can put in place the arrangements they had last year or the year before or can change those arrangements and make two half-days in different parts of the municipality, would the minister not anticipate that that list in the Government Gazette will actually get longer? Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations) — My understanding is that Ms Pennicuik is saying that what is already in the Government Gazette will remain in there this year, which does relate a bit to clause 1. If a regional council decides not to write to the minister, as defined in clause 4 — in other words, at least 90 days before the Melbourne Cup, specifying the day or the two half-days of the substituted public holiday and specifying the reasons — by default it will then be Melbourne Cup Day in that region. Councils have up until 1 August to write to the minister — that is, the 90-day requirement if the bill is passed — specifying the reasons. I guess that is why there are already consultation processes being undertaken in some municipalities — to get some feel as to whether the half-days should be for race days et cetera. I am confused. Is Ms Pennicuik assuming that somehow the list will continue? I did not understand what she was on about. Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — The minister held up the list as if it was proof of confusion. I
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TUESDAY, 31 MAY 2011 ROYAL ASSENT..
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Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

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