THREE important pieces of workplace relations legislation went before the federal parliament in recent weeks with mixed success.
The following were debated during a special session of parliament called for 18 and 19 April 2016:
- The Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2014 (No 3)
This Bill would have established a Registered Organisations Commission and introduced greater accountability for officers of registered organisations. However, it did not pass and is unlikely to ahead of this year’s federal election.
- The Road Safety Remuneration Repeal Bill 2016
This Bill has already passed into law, abolishing the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal and all of its remuneration orders for 21 April 2016.
- The Building & Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013 (No 2)
This Bill would have reinstated the Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC) but was voted down by the Senate, providing PM Malcolm Turnbull with a trigger for a double dissolution federal election, now likely on 2 July 2016.
AREEA strongly supported the passage of all three Bills and warmly welcomed the abolition of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal whose orders threatened the viability of a number of small communities the resource industry relies upon.
“Rarely is it a good idea to conflate safety with the self-serving workplace relations agendas of highly political organisations such as the Transport Workers Union (TWU),” said AREEA executive director of policy and public affairs, Scott Barklamb said.
“AREEA supports existing safety regulators being provided with any additional resources necessary to properly address safety issues for the road transport sector. We never supported an unnecessary new tribunal that was always going to try to force owner-drivers out of business and boost the TWU’s membership.”
AREEA continues to strongly support the restoration of the ABCC and the Registered Organisations reforms.
Click here for further detail and analysis of the three Bills.
