Thursday, 18 March 2021

Healthcare workers enterprise bargaining agreements

Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (11:43): My question is to the Minister for Health. In 2018 the Labor government agreed to an enterprise bargaining agreement with doctors employed by the health department for them to be paid overtime. Three years on, thousands of Victoria’s hardworking doctors are now suing the Labor government for underpayment. When was the minister first made aware that these hardworking frontline healthcare workers are being ripped off by this Labor government?

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (11:44): I take the advice of the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, through the Chair, to be factual. Well, let us get some facts straight. No-one is suing the Victorian government in this business, right? What has happened is proceedings have been filed by one unnamed client against Peninsula Health. That is not quite the Victorian government. Similar proceedings are in place in the New South Wales court system in the Federal Court. The arrangements in place—

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party!

Mr FOLEY: This is a very serious issue. Every health worker, indeed every worker, is entitled to be paid what they have earned, and that is a fundamental principle. That is why this government supports a whole range of issues when they go through fair industrial systems, and that particularly applies to our health system. Arrangements have been in place since 2002 in enterprise agreements covering the salaried medical professionals seeking to deal with what is a deeply entrenched problem in how our salaried medical young doctors are trained and paid. This government is committed to working through those issues, and indeed we have scheduled enterprise bargaining agreements yet again with the salaried medical officials to seek to deal with that issue.

In regard to the facts of the matter that the honourable Leader of the Opposition has portrayed, he needs to just check the facts, whether it be through the proceedings that have been on the papers in the Federal Court, to get his facts right and to reflect on the fact that these are significant—

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the question was when the minister was first made aware of these matters, and I ask you to draw the minister back to answering that question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister is being relevant to the question.

Mr FOLEY: I have been aware of these matters since 2002 when I was a union official and understood what happens when workers are not paid what they are entitled to. That is the issue.

In regard to a longstanding issue, multiple enterprise agreements entered into between the state and the salaried medical officials, including enterprise agreements that were delivered by those opposite in the four long, tortuous years that they held the government benches, have sought to deal with this issue. But this is a very significant issue. At the moment we have one health service subject to Federal Court proceedings. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on a matter that is currently before the Federal Court, other than to say every worker is entitled to be paid what they have earned and what they are entitled to. That matter is addressed through successive enterprise agreements with this group of workers, and we look forward to discussions with that group of workers and any legal representatives they bring to the table to seek to address that matter in a fair and reasonable way to make sure every worker is paid what they are entitled to.

Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (11:47): How does this Labor government justify perpetrating what amounts to wage theft against hardworking junior frontline workers?

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (11:48): This would be the wage theft bill that they voted against, right? This would be the champion of the workers that this mob pretend to be. Let me tell you about what has happened about wage theft today. Let me tell you about what has happened in the federal Parliament this morning. The great champions of the working-class salaried doctors in the federal Parliament have ditched their wage theft bill to make sure that the only legislation—

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister is debating the question. He needs to start cleaning up his own backyard first before he starts throwing rocks anywhere else.

Mr FOLEY: On the point of order, Speaker, the honourable Leader of the Opposition raised the issue of wage theft in his question. There have been important developments around wage theft legislation in this country this day, and I am entitled in my answer to reflect on that.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do not uphold the point of order. The minister is being relevant to the question that has been asked.

Mr FOLEY: Thank you, Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition needs to reflect on just the nature of what he is actually pretending to do here. Is he supporting the arrangements where salaried medical officials, or indeed any worker in our health system or indeed any worker in our great state of Victoria, should be entitled to what they have earned and what their enterprise agreements say they should be paid? This government says yes. That is why we have that legislation in place, and that is why we will support the salaried medical officials through their enterprise bargaining agreement.