Article by Danielle Le Messurier courtesy of the West Australian.
The Albanese Government may have pumped the brakes on a major overhaul of the nation’s industrial relations system but the battle with industry is far from over.
WA’s biggest miners will continue protesting against the laws aimed at stopping companies from using labour-hire workers to undercut the rate of pay agreed for employees even with the reassurance they won’t pass Parliament until next year.
A delay is a welcome reprieve but will not be enough to appease them, sources tell me. They’ll only rest when the Government rips up the Bill and goes back to the drawing board. A two-month delay gives the Minerals Council of Australia and other big business groups more time to prosecute their case.
A nationwide advertising campaign warning against the changes that kicked off this week will only get bigger from here as CEOs remain fully committed to fighting the Bill. Speaking of which, don’t expect Bill Johnston to be let off the hook easily either.
WA’s IR and Mines and Petroleum Minister reckons he hasn’t been pressed to intervene but surely he has a duty to stand up for the industry, which says this is “the most extreme interventionist workplace changes” ever seen in Australian law.
The MCA is worried the scope of the proposed changes is excessive in its reach, capturing all contracting services businesses while threatening jobs and investment in the resources sector. Johnston might be hoping labour shortages will overshadow the IR debacle but that seems unlikely if mining giants like BHP and Roy Hill have more to say about it.