Email of 11 September 2007 to Labor IR Spokesperson Ms Julia Gillard MP

Dear Ms Gillard MP,

I refer to my previous letters of both 16 June 2006 and 12 December 2006, and to your replies of both 24 July 2006 and 20 December 2006 in relation to our petition for people’s fundamental constitutional right to obey law at work.

Mr Gavin Ryan of Senator Marshall’s office has advised me that the petition would be presented to the Senate on 10 September 2007. Further, he said I should directly contact you in relation to any following up actions with respect of the petition because you are the IR spokeswoman of the Labor Party and Senator Marshall is a Labor Senator.

We have requested the Attorney-General’s office to disclose the reasons for not intervening in the proceeding in the High Court as the Attorney-General had informed us that he had reasons for not intervening. However, the Attorney-General’s department advises us to the effect that there are not any reasons for the decision except legal advices that are exempted from disclosing because those legal advices do not support the conclusion of not intervening. My letter to the Attorney-General of 27 August 2007 is attached.

A senior adviser on behalf of the Prime Minister responded to my letter regarding to the petition. The senior adviser’s letter of 13 August is attached. Implicitly, the Prime Minister holds that the case law made by the Full Federal Court in the Judgment of Hilda’s case provides 'strong protections for employees'. That is employers can legally dismiss any employees who dare to complain about the employers’ unlawful activities to the employers, external organizations and authorities because the case law requests that the employees file complaints 'only to a Court or Tribunal' before they are dismissed to meet the criteria for unlawful dismissal claims; however, there are no laws, in normal circumstances, allowing employees to file such complaints.

Now we see the Prime Minister believes to the effect that employers’ instructions prevail over the laws and the Constitution in the workplace. That is why we say the Prime Minister’s new IR laws are extreme laws and only for employers because he believes, anyhow, to the effect that employees have no right to obey any laws at work. My letter of 8 September 2007 to the Prime Minister is attached.

Could you please kindly advise me whether you would follow up the petition to the Senate and what things we might do to follow up the petition to the Senate?

I look forward to hearing from you. Updated backgrounds of the petition and the petition are attached.

(files below are downloadable as .doc files)
Ms Gillard MP’s email of 24/07/06 in response to my email of 24/07/06
Ms Gillard MP’s email of 20/12/06 in response to my email of 12/12/06
My letter to the Attorney-General of 27 August 2007 My letter to the Prime Minister of 8 September 2007

(file below is downloadable as .jpg files)
letter of 13 August 2007 from the Prime Minister's Office