logo
Minister accused of intervention in penalty rates case

Minister accused of intervention in penalty rates case

The Fair Work Commission is considering delaying its ruling on whether retailers should be able to waive penalty rates in return for offering a 35 per cent pay rise after the Albanese government flagged laws to block the move were imminent.
In what employers called 'a highly unusual intervention', new Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth wrote to FWC president Justice Adam Hatcher last week to advise she planned to legislate to ban reductions in award penalty rates 'as soon as possible' and highlighted the government's opposition to the retailers' penalty rates case.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

PM lifts US beef ban, paves way for Trump tariff talks
PM lifts US beef ban, paves way for Trump tariff talks

AU Financial Review

timean hour ago

  • AU Financial Review

PM lifts US beef ban, paves way for Trump tariff talks

The Albanese government has lifted the biosecurity restrictions on US beef, paving the way for the full resumption of exports to Australia, and removing the key excuse given by the Trump administration for imposing steep tariffs on its supposed friend and ally. A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted the move, which was communicated to the US government overnight Wednesday (AEST), was based on scientific advice following a review of the restrictions initiated more than 18 months ago, before Donald Trump was elected president for a second term.

'Bunch of drunken sailors': Sky News host Steve Price scorns Labor's 'crazy' spending as NDIS budget exceeds defence by a billion
'Bunch of drunken sailors': Sky News host Steve Price scorns Labor's 'crazy' spending as NDIS budget exceeds defence by a billion

Sky News AU

time3 hours ago

  • Sky News AU

'Bunch of drunken sailors': Sky News host Steve Price scorns Labor's 'crazy' spending as NDIS budget exceeds defence by a billion

Sky News host Steve Price has hit out at Labor's 'crazy' spending as the NDIS budget overshadows defence while more than half the nation relies on some form of government subsidy. Price said the Albanese government was rightly happy to have won the federal election, but now needed to get the country 'back on track'. A report by the Centre for Independent Studies which found more than half of Australian voters rely on government for most of their income - through wages, benefits or subsidies - was proof of the major challenges ahead, he claimed. 'We have become a nation of leaners, not leaders, and I hate to say that,' Price said. 'We have continued to swamp the country with unprecedented numbers of migrants. We have workers relying on governments for their pay packets. That grows alarmingly.' CIS economist Robert Carling warned such widespread dependence has fuelled unsustainable government spending and eroded economic resilience. In a new paper published on Wednesday, Leviathan on the Rampage, Mr Carling warned federal spending alone has reached 27.6 per cent of GDP. This was up from between 24 and 25 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 and has been fuelled by a 'program expansion in social services, defence and debt interest'. 'How can that be sustainable?' Price said. 'According to that report, spending is driven largely by a small group of programmes including - surprise surprise - the NDIS, Aged Care, Medicare and Defence. The NDIS is actually costing taxpayers more than what we spend on defence. How crazy is that? This year alone, $52 billion on the NDIS. 'Simply not sustainable.' Australia's current defence budget is $51 billion. Price said the Labor government was 'spending like a bunch of drunken sailors'. According to the federal budget 2025-26, the NDIS recorded the second highest annual growth in major payments, behind only interest. It has been projected to cost more than $64 billion by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the federal budget has been projected to endure a decade of deficits and surge past $1 trillion of debt. The findings come just days after leaked Treasury advice revealed the Albanese government has been told to pursue 'spending reductions'. Treasury said Treasurer Jim Chalmers would need to find 'additional revenue and spending reductions' to ensure a 'sustainable budget'.

Vow to protect penalty rates for 2.6m workers
Vow to protect penalty rates for 2.6m workers

Perth Now

time3 hours ago

  • Perth Now

Vow to protect penalty rates for 2.6m workers

Labor will move to protect penalty and overtime rates for about 2.6 million workers, saying 'hardworking' Aussies rely on the entitlements to 'keep their heads above water'. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth will introduce the Bill on Thursday, and urged the Greens and Coalition to support the proposed legislation. The law would prohibit the Fair Work Commission to reduce an overtime or penalty rate, or substitute the entitlements if it reduces the overall take-home pay a worker would otherwise receive. An award would not be able to be altered if there was evidence that even a single worker would be worse off under an arrangement which traded an overtime or penalty entitlement. Ms Rishworth said the change would protect about 2.6 million award-reliant workers. 'If you rely on the modern award safety net and work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, you deserve to have your wages protected,' she said. 'Millions of hardworking Australians rely on penalty rates and overtime rates to keep their heads above water, which is why this Bill is so critical and should receive the support of both the Opposition and the Greens.' Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth is set to introduce the legislation on Thursday. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia The election promise was prompted by a FWC review launched the Australian Retailers Association to allow senior management to take a 25 per cent wage increase above minimum award entitlements in exchange for overtime, weekend and public holiday penalty rates and rest breaks. The move has been backed by the supermarket giants, plus beauty giant Mecca, as well as Kmart, Costco and 7-Eleven. Prior to the election, then employment minister Murray Watt wrote to the FWC to stop large retailers from cutting the entitlements, in a rare act of government intervention. Enshrining penalty rates was a key demand from the Australian Council of Trade Unions, with secretary Sally McManus previously arguing workers should be compensated for sacrificing their weekends. The proposed bill will override the FWC's ability to reduce penalty and overtime rates in modern awards, or substitute the entitlements if even a single worker is worse off. NewsWire/ Nicholas Eagar Credit: NewsWire However, the legislation will likely will likely be opposed by the Coalition, with industrial relations and employment spokesman Tim Wilson stating the independent FWC was already responsible for ensuring 'workers get the best arrangements possible for a fair days work'. Instead he lashed Labor's proposed Bill as being politically motivated. 'There is no threat to penalty rates,' he said on Saturday. 'What there is, is a political focus of the Government that isn't focused towards improving the economic conditions to help small businesses grow, to enable them to go on and employ the next generation of workers, to give those first generation, those first jobs to young Australians so that they can be independent and be able to get on with their economic futures.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store