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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS



AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS COMMISSION

JUSTICE GIUDICE, PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT McINTYRE
JUSTICE MUNRO
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HARRISON
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT DUNCAN
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT CARTWRIGHT
DEPUTY PRESIDENT LEARY
COMMISSIONER HARRISON
COMMISSIONER LAWSON
COMMISSIONER GAY
COMMISSIONER JONES
COMMISSIONER GRAINGER

REGISTRAR RICHARDS

MR J. LLOYD for MINISTER ABBOTT
MR R. CROZIER, ACCI
MS A. PETERS, ACTU

WELCOME TO COMMISSIONER GRAINGER

SYDNEY

9.30 AM, FRIDAY, 20 APRIL 2001

PN1

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Commissioner Grainger.

PN2

COMMISSIONER GRAINGER: I have the honour to announce that I have received a commission from His Excellency the Governor-General appointing me to be a Commissioner of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. I present the commission.

PN3

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Mr Registrar, I direct that the Commission be recorded. Mr Lloyd.

PN4

MR LLOYD: Thank you. It is my pleasure to welcome you as a member of the Commission, Commissioner Grainger. You bring to the office of Commissioner a work experience that is very varied and interesting. You have held a number of senior positions in corporations in recent years; the most recent since 1989 have been with the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, then the multi-cultural media corporation, SBS, and most recently since 1993 the Australian Broadcasting Authority.

PN5

At the ABA your appointments included General Manager and then as a member of the Authority itself from 1997 to 2000. These positions are at a very senior level and have a wide span of responsibility. I understand that in your latest role you have overseen major inquiries and investigations involving breaches of the Broadcasting Services Act. You have also been involved in many public hearings of the ABA. This work is no doubt somewhat akin to that of an industrial Tribunal.

PN6

Another interesting aspect of your career has been your involvement with media regulators in many other countries. You have also worked with international bodies such as the OECD, UNESCO and the European Commission. I am sure an important feature of this work in the field of broadcasting is being conversant with new ideas and developments in what is a very rapidly changing field. I am also aware that your responsibilities have involved not infrequent exposure to workplace relations matters including as I understand a direct at the table role in resolving claims and issues with unions and employees.

PN7

I might add that in preparing this welcoming speech I became a little apprehensive in preparing the notes when I noted that amongst a range of community roles you were Chairman of the English Speaking Union. Perhaps as a result of this we will come to see more erudite submissions from employer and union advocates, which I am sure all members of the Commission would welcome.

PN8

All public organisations face increasing scrutiny from the people they serve. This Commission, because of its important role, is not immune from that feature of our modern economy. The Commission often has to operate in very challenging circumstances where the parties are in conflict and real issues of economic wellbeing are traversed and effected. This places a premium on the skills of the Commission members to achieve outcomes that gain the respect of the parties in that they are being treated fairly.

PN9

It is my experience that the Commission meets these community expectations to a high level of satisfaction. Your experience and background, Commissioner, in the very senior positions you have held give you a wide range of skills that will serve you well in meeting the challenges of your new appointment. On behalf of the Commonwealth Government and Tony Abbott, the Minister, who regrets that he is unable to be here personally this morning, I wish you well in your new appointment.

PN10

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Mr Crozier.

PN11

MR CROZIER: Thank you, your Honour. May it please the Commission, I am pleased to represent the private employers in welcoming the Commissioner to the Commission. I think it is fair to say, your Honours and Commissioners, that Commissioner Grainger is not well known to us, we are conscious of his many previous appointments and his varied background and we note that the diversity of his employment has covered such areas as mass transit, multi-cultural broadcasting and broadcasting. We also note that he has chaired international committees with respect to his previous work in broadcasting, that he has received scholarships arising out of his work in broadcasting and that he clearly brings to the Commission a capacity to listen to people and to bring people into agreement.

PN12

My friend Mr Lloyd has spoken about the scrutiny on the Commission and the changing environment on the Commission and it is clear that the Commission is in the process of transition. It is also clear that the ability to conciliate and assist parties to settlement is a major and increasing function of the Commission and it seems unlikely that that part of its work will go away, notwithstanding the statutory framework that it operates in. It seems clear to us that amongst the many qualifications that Commissioner Grainger brings to the Commission is a capacity in that area. On behalf of the private employers I am very pleased to welcome the Commissioner to the Commission and to wish him well.

PN13

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Ms Peters.

PN14

MS PETERS: Thank you. President, your Honours and Commissioners, as someone who is more familiar with the New South Wales jurisdiction in industrial relations, when I was asked to represent the ACTU at today's proceedings I was advised that it would be a most impressive occasion. I can now see what was meant, it is a slightly fuller Bench than I am more used to appearing before.

PN15

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission and its predecessors have been a most important institution for generations of Australian employees and employers. Work forms a significant part of who we are both as individuals and as a society. This Commission as mediator, conciliator and ultimately umpire of workplace matters therefore plays a critical role in determining how we see ourselves in our society. It is a role that is important for employees, employers, governments and the broader community.

PN16

The union movement has a history of strong support for the Commission. Although from time to time we may not always like it we are pleased, however, to see new appointments to the Commission. For the union movement new members to the Commission represent a continuing renewal of an institution that sets standards for employment. This involves workers, employers and the members of the Commission who all bring their varied expertise to a very practical process of determining what is the best outcome in any given circumstance.

PN17

In some senses the Commission represents the Australian ideal of a fair go with respect to the workplace, which I have already said plays such a significant part in determining how we see ourselves. Commissioner Grainger brings to the Commission a wealth of experience from the public sector, academia, community and the law. This will stand him in good stead to carry out the most important role he has chosen to undertake as a member of this Commission.

PN18

The union movement is pleased, Commissioner, that you have taken on this challenging and worthwhile role and we will watch with interest your contribution to the most important work of this Commission. Thank you.

PN19

JUSTICE GIUDICE: Commissioner Grainger.

PN20

COMMISSIONER GRAINGER: Thank you, President, fellow members of the Commission, friends and associates. I would like to thank Mr Lloyd, Mr Crozier and Ms Peters for their congratulations and kind and very constructive remarks. I would like to stress my thanks to you, President, to the Registrar and all the members and staff of the Commission who have made me feel so welcome in a very new working environment and in a city that I have never lived in before, Melbourne.

PN21

During my time as Deputy Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, I had the good fortune to work at a national and international level with outstanding people on a range of extraordinarily interesting issues, not least on the development of an international consensus on regulatory issues concerning the Internet. That has given me a strong insight into one of the key growth industries in Australia, the broadcasting and communications sector.

PN22

I want to acknowledge the presence here today of the former Chairman of the ABA, Peter Webb, and other distinguished representatives of that sector with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the last eight years. I now look forward to the new challenge and stimulation of working on the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in a field that I have had a strong interest in over many years, industrial relations and dispute resolution.

PN23

While there are many friends and former work colleagues here today, the two people who have been the greatest help to me in my life, my late mother and my late wife, are not here. I want to acknowledge the immeasurable contribution they both made to my life and career. As a great deal of my life has been spent in supporting voluntary community organisations, I must also acknowledge some of the many figures who have set an example to me, not least the late Sir Frederick Deer and also Dame Leonie Kramer and the Honourable Justice Lloyd Waddy who is here today.

PN24

I hope that I can make an effective and worthwhile contribution to our community and our country in this vital field of industrial and workplace relations.

PN25

JUSTICE GIUDICE: I adjourn the Commission.

ADJOURNED ACCORDINGLY [9.40am]