Mr Stuart Aubrey (Scarborough) (11:57 am): I rise today in support of the Construction Industry Portable Paid Long Service Leave Amendment Bill 2025. This bill will achieve five important outcomes. First, it will cover construction work on ships and vessels and close the gap left by the 2016 Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission decision. From now on, construction workers performing construction work on vessels will have their service count. Propelled vessels will be covered only when the work is clearly construction work, such as affixing cranes and maintaining cable-laying machines. It will not cover ordinary shipbuilding and ship maintenance.
Second, it will provide fairness during standdowns. This bill will ensure that days of service accrue when workers are stood down, as we saw during COVID. This will correct the anomaly of contributions still being made without the service being counted. Third, it will provide fairness to a worker who is on workers compensation. The bill clarifies that workers will continue to accrue long service leave when they are on workers compensation, bringing the construction industry into line with other industries. Fourth, it will provide early access in times of hardship. Workers facing permanent incapacity, terminal illness or death will be able to access accrued entitlements early, subject to a modest qualifying period. This will provide dignity and fairness for workers and families.
Fifth, the bill will provide better governance of the MyLeave board by making practical changes, such as allowing meetings by remote access, circular resolutions for urgent matters and acting arrangements if the chair is absent. It will also permit board members to direct their fees to their principal employer. These are commonsense reforms for modern governance.
This bill is important in expanding and strengthening the construction industry portable paid long service leave that provides support and stability to the construction workforce, a skilled workforce that is essential to this state's present and future. These workers build and maintain our housing, hospitals and schools; support our clean energy transition; build defence assets; and support the mining industry.
The construction industry long service leave scheme is incredibly important in supporting the Western Australian construction industry and workforce. I know firsthand the value of this scheme. As the only electrician and one of only two tradespeople in this Parliament, I have firsthand knowledge that within the construction industry, due to the nature of the industry, workers move from job to job, employer to employer and contract to contract.
In my time working in the industry, I accrued and used the construction industry portable paid long service leave. I noted in my inaugural speech that I made a conscious decision to go back to school in my 20s. Going back to school at the age of 24 was not an easy prospect, moving from full-time employment into full-time study for six months. I had saved money, but I was also supported because I could access my construction industry portable paid long service leave.
Finishing my education as an adult was a pivotal step on my path into further education, politics and this house to represent my community of Scarborough. The construction industry portable long service leave made that path possible. I honestly find the member for Cottesloe's contribution arrogant and out of touch—just like the Liberal Party is.
Portability of long service leave recognises the structure of the industry and the importance of supporting its skilled workers. That portability is so important. During my apprenticeship, when my construction long service leave accrual began, I was employed by a group training organisation known as Electrical Group Training. During my apprenticeship, I moved between many different companies or hosts, which is normal. These placements provided me with a broad range of experience across different areas of electrical construction and the trade sector.
They ranged from house bashing or residential construction in the Peel region; constructing apartments in Maylands; building dongas in the Henderson Naval Base area, otherwise known as portable buildings that service mining industry workers' accommodation and offices; commercial construction around Jandakot and Perth Airports; a period of FIFO restoring a nickel refinery in the Mid West that had been in care and maintenance for a significant period; and, towards the end, high voltage installation and maintenance at Jandakot Airport and once at Perth Zoo.
It is a common factor for group training organisation apprenticeships and all workers in the construction industry to move from job to job, under the normal conditions of an industry that is constantly shifting—an industry that can be highly susceptible to external shocks and especially global challenges. For instance, the global financial crisis hit during my apprenticeship. Western Australia felt a short, sharp shock from the global financial crisis. Mining investments stalled, construction activity slowed, jobs were shelved and unemployment jumped.
FIFO workers were made redundant, and too many apprenticeships were cut, creating a skill gap that has lingered long beyond the recovery from the GFC. During this time, the Barnett government moved to keep mining approvals moving, but when the downturn hit, most of the support was directed to the companies with measures such as royalty deferrals and tax relief. Workers and apprentices did not receive the same level of protection. Apprentice numbers fell and TAFE fees increased, leaving WA with a skills gap that persisted well beyond the bust.
Crucially, the Rudd government stimulus steadied the ship. The nation building and job plan, especially the school building programs and expanded social housing programs, notably kept contractors on the tools, apprentices engaged and work flowing through the pipeline until private investment returned. I saw this firsthand on the tools. I worked briefly on those stimulus-funded projects that now stand as a legacy of that time. I am reminded of that whenever I visit my local schools such as Scarborough, North Beach or Newborough Primary Schools, where libraries and classrooms stand as more than just buildings. They are places of learning and community and are a reminder that government decisions in tough times can leave a broad range of lasting benefits for generations.
Moving from short-term placement to short-term placement during my apprenticeship during this GFC time was an easy pill to swallow, because there was a real, substantial fear held by me and many other apprentices that the downturn would cost me my apprenticeship—my future. During this time, my long service leave stayed with me, moving with me from job to job and placement to placement. The GFC is an example of how external shocks can severely impact the stability of Western Australia's construction industry and its workforce, and that is why portable long service leave is so important to the workforce it services.
More recently, another global shock impacted this industry. By contrast, during the COVID pandemic, the WA Labor government stepped up for workers. I was on the ground in the Pilbara—or, more accurately, probably a kilometre underground—as an underground electrical technician, and there was a real and significant fear that the FIFO industry would collapse, bringing huge disruption to all the industries that rely on it, including the construction industry.
But the WA Labor government declared mining and construction essential. That kept projects going and provided certainty. It also rolled out a $5.5 billion recovery plan and put targeted support into apprenticeships and training. Because of these decisive actions of the WA Labor government, the mining industry did not collapse. We not only protected the workforce, but also provided stability in a crisis and invested in essential skills. The result was that WA kept its economy moving, kept and increased the number of apprentices in training and ensured that the skills pipeline grew for the future. It kept many people in jobs.
My background as a tradie puts me in a unique position in this place. I have lived the challenges and the opportunities. I know the onsite reality. Electricians form a core part of a skilled workforce that is the backbone of our economy, powering everything from housing and defence to manufacturing and the transition to clean energy. As we head towards net zero by 2050, the demand for skilled sparkies will only accelerate, and the Cook government is positioning WA to meet that future strategically, comprehensively and ambitiously. We are delivering residential battery rebates and no interest loans, putting approximately $337 million into the residential battery scheme to support around 100,000 households.
That pipeline of solar and battery system installation creates sustained local work for electricians—work that sits squarely within the broader construction industry. More broadly, our Made in WA plan invests in local manufacturing and economic diversification. We are allocating $2.7 billion to boost economic infrastructure and local production—everything from electric buses and ferries to batteries and biomedical precincts. These projects depend on a skilled workforce, and this legislation will strengthen the stability of exactly that workforce.
But demand alone is not enough. We need people with the right skills, and that means investing in training and apprenticeships. The Cook government is also delivering targeted programs to strengthen the electrical industry and the skilled construction workforce. We have reintroduced the Adult Apprenticeship Employer Incentive program to help close the wage gap for employers taking on construction apprentices over 21 years old. Since it reopened at the beginning of July, there has already been a significant uptake. We recognise the importance of group training organisations in supplying skilled tradespeople.
We are supporting another 225 places for GTOs to recruit more apprentices and trainees in the in-demand skills needed to deliver housing and other major infrastructure projects. Growing WA's own skill base is our priority, but while apprentices and trainees are building those skills, we are also supporting the industry, bringing in fully qualified workers. That is why we have extended both the Build a Life in WA incentive and the Construction Visa Subsidy program, which together have already seen more than 1,340 skilled tradies commence work in Western Australia.
These programs are part of our commitment to build and support a skilled, diverse and job-ready workforce for the future of Western Australia, and they go hand in hand with this bill, which will ensure that as we train, recruit and retain workers across our construction sector, their long service leave entitlements will remain secure, fair and portable, wherever that work takes them.
Portable long service leave is not just about entitlements; it is about providing support to a workforce in an industry in which stability can be lacking. When workers know that their hard-earned service will not be lost because they have changed employer or project, they are more likely to stay in the industry longer term. This bill will strengthen that system, expand its reach and provide better governance. It is fair, compassionate and practical. It supports workers, employers, and the future of the construction industry in WA.
As someone who has been on the tools, I know how much stability, training and respect for long service mean to our tradespeople. This bill delivers exactly that, and I commend it to the house.
