Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Rebekah Armstrong: Head of Advocacy and Justice on National and Labour teaming up on modern slavery bill

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Rebekah Armstrong: Head of Advocacy and Justice on National and Labour teaming up on modern slavery bill · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Right bit of a bipartisan moment in the House for once. Yesterday,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: National and Labor have teamed up to essentially fast track
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: a modern slavery law. It had forced big businesses one
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: hundred million plus to manage slavery risks. Rebecca Armstrong, World
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Vision is with us this morning. Hey Rebecca, good morning.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: So why is it only buginess is worth or doing
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: revenue more than hundred million? Do the small businesses not
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: have anything to do with modern slavery?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Small businesses absolutely do. Our research showed that small businesses
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: are just as likely to have modesty as big businesses.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I think though, that the bigger businesses have more leverage
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: the resources to do this, and there's always a slow
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: down effect that trickles down to medium and smaller businesses
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: through this type of regulation.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: What's so, why what is the cost? It must be
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: significant if small businesses couldn't hack it.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: No, that's not correct. There actually isn't this a large
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: cost to do with this law? Actually quite practical and
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: common sense. It's just that we find in other comparable
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: jurisdictions one hundred million is likely the number, and it's
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: because of the leverage that these companies have and because
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: you're not just talking about the big businesses but all
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: of their suppliers. There is actually a downflow effect that
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: will affect medium in smaller companies. Likely. Also, you see
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: that sometimes these thresholds start higher and then reduce as
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: more people become used to reporting in this type of regime.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: What am I meant to do? If I'm a big
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: business importing stuff from overseas or whatever, what am I
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: actually meant to do?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: You're supposed to understand your supply chains in a way
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: that you haven't before. So you need to understand where
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: there is risk of modern slavery in your supply chain.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: So you might be working, for example, with a country
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: that has difficult labor laws, you might be hearing allegations
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: of really long hours, people being underpaid. If you do
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: hear those allegations of potential one slavery, you'd be expected
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: to hone in on that, understand what's happening, and then
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: sort it out so that this doesn't happen again. This
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: might be by interviewing your work as it might be
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: changing suppliers or contractors, and then you're supposed to report
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: on it in a transparent way to show that you
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: are in good faith, understanding your want slavery obligations, and
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: reporting on these.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: So if I just don't talk to anyone, then I
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: should you know, you'd be fine because if you don't
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: talk to me one, you don't hear anything, then you've
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: absolved yourself with responsibility.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Well, this is the point you're supposed to engage with
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: your supply chain. Beyond care one and two. You're supposed
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to understand what's going on. You're supposed to report publicly,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: and there is some penalties if you don't report, if
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: you are providing misleading information or dishonest. But this doesn't
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: apply to businesses that are acting in good face. So
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: it's a whole different way of looking where it's important
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: that you make disclosures and make changes.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Will you have to basically fly there and check it out.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Absolutely not. I think in a context like New Zealand's
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: there'd be a lot of collaboration with companies working together.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: But you are supposed to have an understanding of what's
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: happening in a different jurisdiction even if you're not there,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and most companies do. They do have contractors that have
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: strong relationships with us, or they do do audits sometimes,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: but and they do speak to their workers who are
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: working in other places.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: All right, Rebecca Armstrong, World's Vision appreciate your time this morning.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: For more from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:44
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• 3:47
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