AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Multi-employer bargaining pays off for workers and businesses

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Original article by Chris F Wright
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 24-Nov-22

The multi-employer bargaining provisions of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill have been widely criticised by employers’ groups. However, even these groups agree that the current enterprise bargaining system is broken, but they have not put forward an alternative to multi-employer bargaining. The Fair Work Act placed collective bargaining at the enterprise level at the heart of the workplace relations system, but the current laws make it too easy for businesses to opt out of enterprise bargaining while it has become too hard for workers to negotiate new agreements. The rest of the world is moving towards multi-employer bargaining, as it benefits businesses as well as workers. Australia should embrace this once-in-a-generation opportunity to do so as well.

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Burke flags more IR exemptions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 24-Nov-22

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says 97.5 per cent of businesses will now be exempt from the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill’s single-interest multi-employer bargaining stream. This follows the federal government’s decision to increase the employee threshold for small businesses from 15 to 20, in line with a Senate committee’s recommendation. However, the Opposition has called for the threshold to be increased to 200, while business groups want it to be set at 100 employees. The government’s compromise means that an additional 500,000 businesses will be exempt from multi-employer bargaining. The government is still in negotiations with independent senator David Pocock.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Firms face $75k cost for bargaining

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Nov-22

The Department of Employment & Workplace Relations estimates that it will cost small businesses about $14,638 to engage in multi-employer bargaining. Medium businesses and large companies in turn will face costs of $75,148 and $94,311 respectively, according to the department’s regulatory impact statement. The federal government has based these estimates on an average consultant cost of $175 an hour. However, Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Andrew McKellar contends that businesses could expect to pay market rates of about $400 an hour. Meanwhile, Hancock Prospecting, has warned that multi-employer bargaining could threaten thousands of mining jobs and billions of dollars in royalty revenue.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Labor in retreat on corruption watchdog warrants

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 23-Nov-22

The federal government has agreed to some compromises regarding its bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The government has put forward an amendment which restricts the power to issue surveillance warrants to superior court judges; it had originally proposed that members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be authorised to approve warrants to bug phones or access encrypted messages. Labor has also agreed to provide increased protections for journalists and their sources. The Senate is slated to vote on the NACC bill next week.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

More exemptions to salvage IR bill

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Nov-22

The Senate inquiry into the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill has recommended increasing the threshold for small businesses to be exempted from multi-employer bargaining to 20 employees, compared with 15 under the existing provisions of the bill. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has indicated that the government is willing to negotiate a higher threshold in order to secure the bill’s passage before parliament rises for the year. However, Burke notes that lifting the threshold too much would undo the central aim of the bill, which is to increase the wages of low-paid workers. Independent senator David Pocock has continued to push for a vote on the multi-employer bargaining provisions of the bill to be delayed until next year.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Labor to boost whistleblower protections in last sitting fortnight of parliamentary year

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will address the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference in Sydney on Wednesday. He will reveal plans to pursue amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act which aim to provide increased protection for whistleblowers. Cabinet has approved the draft legislation, which will be introduced to parliament before it rises for the year. The federal government will pursue "priority amendments" to the Act, ahead of a fuller review in 2023. It wants stronger whistleblower protections to be in place before the National Anti-Corruption Commission becomes operational in mid-2023.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Bowen signs up to global offshore wind club

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Original article by Hans van Leeuwen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 16-Nov-22

The federal government will seek to accelerate the development of Australia’s nascent offshore wind power industry. Onshore wind farms account for about 10 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation capacity at present, and the government has announced that Australia will join the Global Offshore Wind Alliance. Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who is attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, says Australia’s offshore wind farm industry is starting from scratch, and the nation will benefit from being a member of the alliance.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER, GLOBAL OFFSHORE WIND ALLIANCE

Qantas on IR: flight routes will die

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Original article by Simon Benson, Sarah Ison, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Nov-22

Qantas is the latest company to express concerns about the federal government’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill. The national carrier told the Senate committee that is reviewing the bill that multi-employer bargaining would effectively become industry-wide agreements that would reverse Labor’s economic reforms of the 1980s. Qantas also said the proposed industrial relations reforms would give too much power to trade unions and the Fair Work Commission. Qantas added that the reforms would increase the cost of air travel and reduce demand for flights, which could result in less profitable routes and services being discontinued. Clubs Australia in turn has warned that multi-employer bargaining could force many small clubs to close.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, CLUBS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED

Review into ABC and SBS financial stability

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has advised that her department has commenced a review of the ABC and SBS that will examine measures to support the stability and independence of the public broadcasters. Rowland disclosed details of review while attending a function organised by ABC Friends, which is not affiliated with the ABC. She emphasised that the review will not consider issues such as funding of the ABC and SBS or proposals to merge them. The review will include public consultation in 2023.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

First step in long China thaw

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Original article by Ben Packham, Amanda Hodge, Will Glasgow
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 16-Nov-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described his brief meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders’ summit as an important step to moving forward in the bilateral relationship between the two nations. Albanese and Xi talked for 32 minutes on the sidelines of the Bali summit, with the latter praising Albanese for handling relations between the two countries in a "mature manner". Albanese raised a number of issues during the meeting, including China’s trade bans on Australian imports and Australia’s concerns about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province. He also urged Xi to release two Australian citizens who have been detained in China on espionage charges and to use his influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)