BUSINESS AND POLITICS – AUSTRALIA

Shambolic right to disconnect fix

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Feb-24

The federal government was criticised over its failure to consult with employers’ groups regarding the ‘right to disconnect’ provisions of its latest industrial relations reforms. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has attracted further criticism for belatedly consulting with employers with regard to the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2024, which is intended to remove criminal penalties for employers who breach the right to disconnect. The haste with which the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 was pushed through parliament resulted in the criminal penalties inadvertently being left in the legislation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Refinery closure to wipe out 1000 jobs

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Jan-24

US-based Alcoa has confirmed that its Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia will be closed. Its workforce will be reduced to about 50 by the September 2025 quarter, compared with about 800 employees and 300 contractors at present. WA’s state development minister David Honey says the plant’s closure is unnecessary; he contends that the state government’s failure to issue Alcoa with new bauxite mining approvals and the federal government’s emissions reduction target are to blame. However, federal Resources Minister Madeleine King attributes the closure to factors beyond the government’s control, such as the plant’s age and declining bauxite grades at Alcoa’s mine.

CORPORATES
ALCOA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES

ALP holding us back: miners

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jan-24

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable says the federal government is "taking the resources sector for granted" and its policy settings are aimed at making the industry anti-competitive. She has called for major government support for the resources sector to ensure that Australia continues to be attractive to investors. Constable adds that the government needs to support the sector as a whole, rather than focusing on critical minerals. Analysis shows that 72 coal, iron ore and oil and gas projects have been shelved, delayed or failed to progress in the last 12 months.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Small business lashes senators over insulting haste on IR bill

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Dec-23

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia has criticised the Senate for passing the Closing Loopholes Bill on federal parliament’s last sitting day for the year. COSBOA’s CEO Luke Achterstraat and chairman Matthew Addison have written to senators expressing their concern that the bill was passed too quickly and without consulting employers; this includes amendments that were only announced on the day the legislation was passed. COSBOA also contends that provisions of the bill that were hived off and will be voted on separately in 2024 should be abandoned.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Business pans unfair IR deal with Greens

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 30-Nov-23

The federal government’s Closing Loopholes Bill was passed by the lower house on Wednesday, with more than 80 amendments that Labor had agreed to implement. However, employers’ groups have criticised a Greens amendment that will have major implications for the government’s intractable bargaining laws, which allow unions or employers to unilaterally go to arbitration after nine months of failed bargaining. The amendment means that employees’ existing conditions cannot be reduced via such arbitration. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Andrew McKellar says the Fair Work Commission will make a lot more unilateral decisions as a result of this amendment, which will in turn further reduce productivity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

More IR changes make bad bill worse

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 29-Nov-23

The federal government tabled 81 amendments to its Closing Loopholes Bill in the lower house on Tuesday. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox and Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable have expressed concern about some of the amendments, with the latter contending that they will broaden the union movement’s powers with regard to the ‘same job, same pay’ provisions. However, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has described the amendments as "practical reforms".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Communication fail: Optus opts out

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Original article by Simon Benson, Joseph Lam, Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 9-Nov-23

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says Optus should have been upfront with its customers regarding the network outage that caused nationwide chaos on Wednesday. The Optus network went offline at about 4am, but the telco did not issue its first statement online until 6.45am and CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin did not make any public statements until 10.30am. Optus’s mobile network, internet and landline services were not fully restored until about 6pm. Bayer Rosmarin says the outage was caused by a "vey technical network engineering issue" and Optus technicians have yet to determine its cause; however, she has emphasised that it was not due to a botched network upgrade.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Labor delivers concessions on gig economy employment reforms

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The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Nov-23

On-demand platforms have welcomed the federal government’s decision to make changes to the gig economy provisions of its Closing Loopholes Bill; however, they believe that the concessions do not go far enough. Amongst other things, the amendments will limit the introduction of traditional employment conditions for gig economy workers, such as penalty rates. The Fair Work Commission will be able to impose penalty rates if they are deemed to be appropriate for the type of work, although on-demand platforms had wanted weekend and evening penalty rates to be specifically excluded from the legislation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Business blues over IR shake-up bill

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 2 : 8-Nov-23

The federal government continues to attract scrutiny over its compromise agreement with the Australian Hotels Association regarding the casual employment provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill. The deal has been criticised by Restaurant & Catering Australia, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia and the Minerals Council of Australia. They have released legal advice from Corrs Chambers Westgarth which suggests that, despite the amendments, employers that breach the new definition of a casual could still incur existing penalties.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

BHP warns against Same Job, Same Pay

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 2-Nov-23

BHP CEO Mike Henry has reiterated that the ‘same job, same pay’ provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill could potentially force the resources group to discontinue its FutureFit training academies. Henry says 1,500 people have been inducted into the academies, which provide them with the skills that are needed to work in the mining industry. Henry also contends that the labour hire reforms would increase costs more broadly and make Australia less attractive as an investment destination. Henry says the proposed reforms are the most significant and far-reaching changes to Australia’s industrial relations laws since the WorkChoices regime.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP