Opinion: Ironic timing as Canberra farewells a workplace warrior from a bygone era | Michelle Grattan
Peter Reith would have appreciated the irony. In the week that the former industrial relations minister died, federal politics was yet again consumed with a highly charged debate over workplace changes.
Reith had long gone from parliament by the time John Howard’s radical WorkChoices law became central in bringing down the Coalition government.In the next turn of the industrial relations wheel, WorkChoices was scuttled by the Rudd government, with Julia Gillard the minister. Labor is desperate to pass the bill through parliament before Christmas. It argues the legislation’s crucial objective is getting wages moving, so it’s needed ASAP. More pertinently, Labor is under intense pressure from the unions. It also wants to deny business time to run a campaign.
Sophie Scamps told parliament the omnibus bill bundled together many “excellent policies” with “the more controversial ones”. “This has created a Sophie’s choice when it comes to voting.”Another NSW teal, Allegra Spender, urged provision for an independent review after a year. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke preferred to leave that matter until the bill was in the Senate.
A significant one is that votes of workers would be taken at the individual business level, rather than on an overall basis. This would prevent workers in larger enterprises being able to overwhelm those in small ones.Alex EllinghausenDespite the concessions, business groups remain angsty, saying they don’t go far enough. In a joint statement, they maintained the planned expansion of multi-employer bargaining was too wide.
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