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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS


O/N 12933

ON THE OCCASION

OF

THE COMMISSION'S SWEARING IN

AND WELCOME OF

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HAMBERGER

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION

SYDNEY

MONDAY, 9 AUGUST 2004

PN1

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Senior Deputy President Hamberger?

PN2

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HAMBERGER: I have the honour to announce that I have received a commission from His Excellency, the Governor General, appointing me to be a Senior Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. I present the Commission.

PN3

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Mr Industrial Registrar, I direct that the Commission be recorded. The Minister?

PN4

THE HON KEVIN ANDREWS: May it please the Commission, your Honour, I am pleased to be able to be here today to welcome Senior Deputy President Hamberger to the Commission and I take this opportunity to congratulate him and to wish him every success in his role.

PN5

Senior Deputy President Hamberger, you hold a degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. Something which no doubt will come in handy in the role in which you are embarking upon. You have a long and distinguished career in the public sector working for over 20 years for both State and Federal Governments. Indeed, this year you were awarded the Public Service Medal in recognition of your outstanding public service on the basis of your contribution to, and I quote:

PN6

The improvement of Australian workplaces particularly through the implementation of workplace agreements.

PN7

In fact, some might say that you actually received that recognition in recognition of your battles in Senate estimates committees. I am informed earlier this year that Jonathan paid a visit to a seafood factory in Perth and before he entered the factory he was required to don the smock, and the gumboots, and the baseball cap, and probably the goggles as well and I understand that Jonathan wondering what might be in store for him upon entering the factory was heard to observe to a colleague, "I must see if I can take these with me. This type of clothing would come in handy at estimates committees". I am sure the one thing you won't miss from your previous role as the Employment Advocate is those regular appearances before my colleagues in the Senate.

PN8

Senior Deputy President, in December 1998 you were appointed as the Employment Advocate and it is quite an achievement that by the time of leaving that position recently there have been more than half a million Australian workplace agreements entered into between Australian workers and their employers. In fact Australian workplace agreements are now one of the fastest growing industrial instruments in the country and that is a credit to both yourself and to your office in that role as the Employment Advocate.

PN9

In this office you also provided assistance and advice to employers and employees on workplace relations issues such as Federal freedom of association law. As the Employment Advocate you had oversight of two major surveys into the attitudes and views of Australian workers on freedom of association. The results of the second of those surveys was published just in April of this year providing a significant insight into the views of over 3000 workers in Australia on freedom of association.

PN10

Prior to your employment as the Employment Advocate you served in the role of Deputy Employment Advocate from 1997 to 1998 and before that you worked as a senior policy adviser to one of my predecessors, the Honourable Peter Reith, then Minister for Industrial Relations and later Workplace Relations and Small Business. Prior to that you were a Manager in the New South Wales Department of Public Works and between 1990 and 1996 a Director in the New South Wales Department of Industrial Relations.

PN11

I am sure that these qualifications and expertise which you bring to this new position will contribute in a substantial way to the work of the Commission. I note that your wife Michelle and your daughter Helen are here today. I am sure that they are proud of the achievements that you have gained in the past and will be supportive of that work which you do in the future.

PN12

Sir, you join the Australian Industrial Relations Commission which is a significant institution in this country and one which is about to celebrate its centenary. Although I think that celebration, your Honour, extends over a period of a couple of years given the start/stop way - if I can put it - that history records that the predecessor organisation to this one came into existence almost a century ago. But I am sure, Senior Deputy President, Hamberger, that your talents and experience will assist it to undertake its important role as it begins its work in the next century of that work in Australia.

PN13

In conclusion I would like to again welcome Senior Deputy President Hamberger to the Commission and wish him all the best in this new role. May it please the Commission.

PN14

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Mr Anderson?

PN15

MR PETER ANDERSON: If the Commission pleases. Senior Deputy President Hamberger, on behalf of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the 33 employer organisations that comprise the Chamber across Australia I welcome and congratulate Senior Deputy President Hamberger on his appointment to the Commission and I concur with the welcome that the Minister has also conveyed this morning.

PN16

Senior Deputy President Hamberger is known to the business community in a number of ways. He is known as a conscientious, thoughtful and high quality professional in the field of workplace relations and public administration. He has worked for both State and then Federal Governments and more recently in holding the statutory office of Employment Advocate has brought him to the cutting edge of the contemporary practices of Australian workplaces including in areas as significant as freedom of association and direct employer/employee bargaining.

PN17

Senior Deputy President Hamberger has dealt with many thousands of employers and employees in these roles and they have benefited from his public administration. You, Sir, have shown yourself more than capable of exercising one of the most significant statutory roles created by the Workplace Relations Act and to have done so in a manner that is true to the statute and thus affecting in a beneficial way the parties directly concerned.

PN18

The world of work is changing as we approach 2005, as is our labour market and our society. Senior Deputy President Hamberger as the Employment Advocate has had the duty to administer and witness evidence of that change, as does the Commission at large. Of course, change is not always easy and controversy can surround institutions both new and old. In the face of challenges to either jurisdiction or judgment Senior Deputy President Hamberger has demonstrated a strength of purpose and a compliance with the statute that equips him well for the skills he will need to apply in the work of this Commission. Indeed, those skills and perspective will add value to the work of this Institution and its important role in the Australian workplace relations system.

PN19

On a personal note, many of us who know Senior Deputy President Hamberger know him as an engaging, friendly and well-read and well-researched man with a strong personal sense of professional and civic duty. Of course, the Commission is a different Institution to those in which you, Sir, have worked in the past. Yet it shares a common statute with the work you have recently performed as the Employment Advocate with some common objectives and even in part some common jurisdiction and yet there are different functions and different skills to be applied. We in the business community are confident that you will well and truly fulfil the oath of office that you take and add value to the Commission, and in those endeavours you have both the support and the best wishes of the employer movement as a whole. Thank you.

PN20

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Mr Lennon?

PN21

MR MARK LENNON: If the Commission pleases, President, your Honours and Commissioners and Senior Deputy President Hamberger. It is certainly an honour to be able to represent the ACTU at today's hearing and I am here on behalf of the ACTU and its 48 affiliates to formally welcome and congratulate Senior Deputy President Hamberger on his appointment.

PN22

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission and its predecessors have and remain a most important Institution for working Australians; both working Australian employees and of course for employers. For the vast majority of Australians the type, and manner, and rewards of our employment are fundamental to us having effective participation in society. The manner in which we as a community also treat the employment relationship also defines us as a society.

PN23

This Commission, as mediator, conciliator and, ultimately, umpire of workplace matters therefore plays a critical role in determining how we see ourselves and define ourselves as a society and a community. In the age of individualism it is an ever important role that this Commission plays. Increasing affluence has seen the benefit for the community at large but it has not been shared fairly or equally and it is an important role of the AIRC ensuring that that benefit will spread to all in our growing economy. It is an important role and will remain so.

PN24

The union movement in Australia has had a strong history of support for this Commission. Although from time to time we may not always like the decisions that it hands down, we are always pleased to see that it maintains its fundamental role in our community and we are also pleased to see new appointments to the Commission. To the union movement new members of the Commission represent a continuing renewal of the Institution and it also ensures that we continue to set new standards of employment through investigation and debate. In some senses the Commission represents the Australian ideal of "a fair go" with respect to the workplace which, as I have said, plays a significant part in determining how we see ourselves as a community.

PN25

Senior Deputy President Hamberger brings to the Commission a long experience in the field of industrial and employment relations. It is fair to say, and coming from the Labor Council of New South Wales I can speak with some authority on this, he has been at the forefront of industrial relations reform both at a State level and at a Federal level over the last 15 years. The knowledge and experience that he brings can only be of a benefit to this Commission and those who appear for it. His background and his experience will stand him in good stead too as he seeks to carry out the important role he has chosen to undertake as a Senior Deputy President of this Commission.

PN26

In his previous role Senior Deputy President Hamberger has shown to be willing to serve the public and has a strong sense, as we have heard, of civic duty. Importantly, though he has also demonstrated that he has the skills of being willing to listen to others and also to debate with others over important issues such as workplace reform.

PN27

Can I say on a personal level from the Labor Council's perspective we have particularly found that a pleasing aspect of Senior Deputy President Hamberger's work. He has always been open and consultative and always prepared to discuss issues and change. Not always agreeing with us of course but always prepared to be there, to be open, and to have those discussions.

PN28

The union movement is pleased, Senior Deputy President, that you have decided to take on this role. It is indeed a challenging one for you but as I say given the importance of this Commission to our community at large it is a worthwhile role indeed. It is a role that we hope will ultimately see individuals in our community benefit and be able to take their place in their community through ensuring that they have improved working conditions and therefore be able to participate as effective members of our society. It is important that this collective Institution, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, continues to perform that role.

PN29

So it is with much pleasure, as I say, that we welcome you to this role and we will be watching your contribution with interest and looking forward to seeing that you play that worthwhile role that we know you can play before this Commission, and with this Commission. If the Commission pleases.

PN30

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Thank you Mr Lennon. Senior Deputy President Hamberger?

PN31

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HAMBERGER: Thank you, your Honour. I would like to thank the Minister, Mr Anderson and Mr Lennon for their kind words. As the Minister mentioned I did Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and while I was there, there was a subject you could take called industrial relations. I didn't choose to do industrial relations. In fact actually at the time I simply couldn't understand why anyone would study something that sounded so boring. Over the last 26 years, however, I have learned to think differently.

PN32

After coming to live in Australia I soon developed a fascination with, and an attraction to, this country's unique system of industrial relations. While over the years my views about our industrial relations system have developed I have always had a strong belief in the importance of fairness in the workplace and have learnt to greatly respect this Commission's role in seeking to uphold that principle. I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to serve as Senior Deputy President of this Commission, an Institution that has undergone much change over many years and will surely undergo further change in the years to come, but one which is an enduring and central feature of Australian society.

PN33

When the Minister first contacted me about putting my name forward for consideration for this appointment I think he said something about my replacing Mister Justice Munro. Now, for those of you who know me and know Mr Justice Munro, it is a moot point whether I could really be seen as replacing Mr Justice Munro. However, I certainly looked at a lot of his speeches that are on the AIRC website and there is a lot of very useful material in some of those speeches, but there was one particular gem that I wanted to share with people here this morning. Justice Munro related how shortly after taking up his own appointment to the Commission he bumped into Neil Brown, who was the former Minister, in an airport lounge. During the course of the conversation Neil Brown said - I can't do the voice so excuse me - "There's a funny thing about judicial appointments, you put someone there to do a job but no sooner is he on the bench than the bastard believes he was appointed on merit". I certainly intend to do my job on this Commission on the assumption, accurate or otherwise, that I have been appointed on merit. I certainly plan to do my best to act consistently with the oath I have given, to faithfully and impartially perform the duties of the office to which I have been appointed.

PN34

Over the course of my professional life I have been blessed with the help and guidance of a number of people, far too many to mention here. I am particularly pleased to be joined here this morning by a number of my former colleagues from the OEA, including Peter McIlwain, the new Employment Advocate. I would also like to mention publicly two people who I don't believe are here today but who have given me enormous assistance over the years and who are now both members of this Commission, Deputy President Hamilton and Commissioner Thatcher.

PN35

I would also like to express my thanks to my father, Emeritus Professor Sydney Hamberger, who is here this morning. Who as a workplace delegate of the UK Institute for Professional Civil Servants, some years ago, impressed on me from a young age the fundamental importance of a sense of fairness in dealings between employers and employees.

PN36

I also want to thank my wife, Michelle. Michelle reminded me recently how the very first week she came to live with me in Canberra, after we got married, I disappeared for a whole week to attend a national wage case hearing in Melbourne; leaving her alone in a new city where she knew virtually no one. That is not the only sacrifice Michelle has had to make in the interests of industrial relations and I don't suppose it will be the last. Though I might mention that Michelle, who originally started out her own career in industrial relations, has had the sense perhaps to move on to a career more focussed on learning and development. But she won't be able to completely escape industrial relations, I don't think, now. I particularly want to thank Michelle and my two children, Helen, and James who can't be here this morning, for always making sure that my feet stay firmly planted on the ground.

PN37

Lastly, can I thank you all for attending here this morning. It is a pleasure to be joined by so many friends and colleagues, past and new.

PN38

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Thank you Mr Lennon, Mr Anderson and the Minister. I would add on behalf of all of the members of the Commission congratulations and warm welcome to Senior Deputy President Hamberger.

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