Howard Government Incompetence On Entitlements

Media Statement - 18 December 2002

The loss of $5.5 million in entitlements owed to 300 workers at collapsed firm Trollope, Silverwood and Beck highlights the ongoing incompetence of the Howard Government at protecting entitlements.

Three years after the Howard Government was embarrassed into action by the collapse of National Textiles, chaired by the Prime Minister's brother Stan, many workers will endure yet another Christmas without their entitlements.

There were three parts to the Howard Government's ‘response':

(1) an offence in the Corporations Act of avoiding entitlements,

(2) a taxpayer-funded entitlements scheme, and

(3) a change to the law to re-rank employees ahead of secured creditors.

As for (1), the proposal did nothing to deter Coogi Australia from flagrantly avoiding entitlements by transferring 240 workers to a shell company without their knowledge.

As for (2), the scheme leaves many entitlements unpaid and is plagued by delays, with the Auditor-General finding almost half of workers forced to wait more than 4 months and one in five more than 6 months.

As for (3), more than a year after making this promise, the Howard Government has failed to deliver, leaving the workers of Trollope, Silverwood and Beck to queue behind the banks for their entitlements.

In March this year, Labor put forward legislation to set up a national insurance scheme to protect 100% of workers' entitlements, with exemptions for small businesses and businesses which make adequate alternative arrangements to protect entitlements.

As workers and their families do it tough over the holiday period, the Howard Government should explain to them why it didn't support Labor's legislation, which would have protected their entitlements.