Latest news with #AiGroup
ABC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Ai Group boss says the industrial relations conversation is far from over as the government tries to lift productivity
Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox says the government's IR policies are inhibiting productivity. He also wants energy to cost less, and broad agreement on how to achieve de-regulation.
Fibre2Fashion
05-07-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
Australian manufacturing performance continues to drop: Ai Group
The seasonally-adjusted Australian Industry Index fell slightly by 1.8 points to minus 11.9 in June. The index has indicated contraction for the last 36 months. Supply side factors eased as input costs and average wages declined, pointing to continued softening of inflationary pressures, according to The Australian Industry (Ai) Group, which released the index. Demand side weakness continued, as new orders dropped while sales remain subdued, with manufacturers particularly affected. The seasonally-adjusted Australian Industry Index fell slightly by 1.8 points to minus 11.9 in June. The index has indicated contraction for the last 36 months. Demand side weakness continued, as new orders dropped while sales remain subdued, with manufacturers particularly affected. Manufacturing performance continues to decline despite the broader recovery in industrial sectors. The contraction in sales activity eased slightly to minus 15.6 in June. Since reaching a recent trough at the start of 2024, the trend has shown gradual signs of recovery. Employment improved by 6.6 points to be broadly stable at minus 1.9. This is the first time the index has approached neutral since March 2024. The steady recovery evident in trend data for sales and employment points to improving conditions for the industrial sectors, the Ai Group said in a release. Manufacturing continued to contract despite the broader recovery in industrial sectors, with the purchasing managers' index (PMI) declining to minus 29.3. In trend terms, manufacturing performance continues to slide. Sales of manufacturers were affected by weather, rising costs and trade uncertainty that weakened buyer confidence; in response discounts and flexible payments were employed to boost demand. Capacity utilisation in Australian industry moved slightly upwards to 77.9 per cent in June. Some respondents indicated that increased new orders lifted capacity utilisation and it is likely that capacity utilisation will increase in the coming months. Despite some easing, capacity utilisation remained constrained due to skilled labour shortages, rising living costs and growing competition. Larger contracts are helping sustain operations, but skilled labour shortages and retail sector weakness continue to pose challenges for some respondents, it noted. The new orders index edged down slightly, landing at minus 13.8, a similar rate to the previous month. Since mid-2024, the indicator has shown a gradual trend of improvement. Input volumes fell by 8.9 points in June to minus 11.7, reversing May's gains and matching earlier lows. Some respondents noted signs of enquiries picking up, though overall demand remained soft and reduced orders reflected a cautious outlook for customer spending in June. Market conditions remain strained as global volatility, regulatory changes and competition from imports continue to disrupt supply chains and curtail orders. Pricing indicators showed mixed results in June. The sales price indicator increased to 5.5, while the input prices indicator decreased to 36.5. The gap between sales prices and input costs improved by narrowing to 31.0 in June. However, the wide gap continues to point to margin pressures. The wages indicator remained stable at 36.8, and it has been steady in trend terms since late 2024. Pricing remains under pressure from geopolitical uncertainty, weak local demand, import competition and climate-related economic impacts. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
ABC News
17-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Union wants 'presumed' right to work from home, as Labor weighs new law
Clerical workers should be allowed to work from home unless their bosses can demonstrate that doing so would be impractical or bad for business, according to Australia's largest white-collar union. The Australian Services Union (ASU) has told the workplace umpire there should be a legally binding presumption towards approving requests for remote work in the admin sector unless there are "reasonable business grounds" for refusal. The proposal obtained by the ABC is part of an ongoing Fair Work Commission (FWC) process to better reflect the modern reality of working from home in the legal award for clerical workers, seen as a test case for other workers in the award system. Business group Ai Group has proposed to the FWC that working from home be agreed between employers and employees and that penalty rates, overtime and other standard perks should not apply to workers who can choose when and where they do their work. The process is playing out in the context of mounting expectations that the federal government will legislate a work-from-home right for all workers. While that plan is still in its early days, it looms as the next frontier for Labor as it seeks to build on the sweeping workplace reforms of its first term, when it ticked off several items on the union wishlist, including the right to disconnect over business objections. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday that working from home was "important to provide the kind of flexibility which is key to a modern economy" but signalled a desire for flexibility and consensus-building. "Obviously, it needs to be within reason, it needs to work for employees and employers and the best place for that to be worked out is at the workplace level," he said. "This is a good example, I think, of where the union movement and employers can work together to make sure we are creating and nourishing the kind of labour market which is so important to a dynamic, modern economy like ours." The tussle over the clerical award suggests little prospect of consensus between business and unions over any legislation, with the two poles apart. The ASU suggests employers be required to "genuinely try" to accommodate any request to work from home and refuse only for reasons such as cost, practicality, security or health and safety risks, with a dispute mechanism for workers unsatisfied with refusal. AiG's proposal, first reported in The Australian and obtained by the ABC, said any agreement on work from home should be voluntary and without "coercion or duress". The proposal was provided on the basis that it was "strictly confidential and without prejudice" in order to facilitate discussion. While the issue will be led by newly appointed Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth, who has also promised a consensus-building approach, it will also spill over to Treasurer Jim Chalmers's productivity agenda. Mr Chalmers will shed more light on his plans for a productivity round table when he addresses the National Press Club on Wednesday. The round table, scheduled for August, will have a tight agenda and a tight invite list, to be held in the cabinet room and focus on a set of policy areas. Senior business and union leaders are likely to be involved in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has framed as an exercise in building a case for economic reform. Mr Albanese told the press club last week that Labor wanted "consensus" from the forum, but business groups will enter with scepticism after the similar Jobs and Skills Summit in Labor's first term set the stage for workplace changes they opposed. Mr Chalmers said he expected that working from home would be raised and was also open to tax reform proposals. "We've made it really clear already that productivity is the primary focus of the round tables but not the sole focus," he said, adding budget sustainability and economic resilience would also be discussed. "I welcome tax being an important part of the conversation [and] the ideas that people raise at the round table in the second half of August. "I think it would be hard to come at these sorts of issues … without people raising their ideas when it comes to tax."
ABC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Business leader Innes Willox begs Coalition not to reopen climate wars
Another battle within the federal opposition over net zero would "hobble" the Australian economy, a prominent business leader has warned, urging the parliament to focus on the mechanics of the climate transition. New Liberal leader Sussan Ley this week stated her belief that Australia should reduce emissions "appropriately" but could not say whether the Coalition would continue its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Prominent business lobbyist Innes Willox said reconsidering net zero would be like "re-opening an old wound" and would undermine the confidence of investors. "Oh god no, no, anything but, please … For many in business there would be a lot of eye-rolling about this, simply because business had hoped that the broad fundamentals were settled," he told the ABC's Insiders: On Background podcast. "Business has been locked into net zero now for a long time [and] has already made investment decisions predicated on emissions reduction heading towards net zero by 2050. To reopen that now would put a lot of potential investment decisions on hold." Mr Willox, who is chief executive of industrial business lobby Ai Group, said there was room for debate about how to achieve the target including the future role of nuclear, but that net zero was a "north star" which let the market price and compare alternatives. "We have an agreed position that both political sides have settled on for some time, and that's given business and industry some certainty around investment. To go back on that now would make things very difficult." The Coalition's internal debate about climate policy has spilled out into the open since its heavy election defeat, with both Liberals and Nationals calling for a rethink. Matt Canavan, who challenged David Littleproud for the leadership of the Nationals, was explicit that net zero should be dropped and coal embraced, and while his leadership bid did not succeed his view is shared by several party colleagues. Liberal views are split between those who want the nuclear power policy ditched for more ambitious emissions reduction policies, those who want it retained but with less taxpayer money involved, and those who to double down or ditch net zero entirely. Even moderate Andrew Bragg has welcomed a rethink of that target, while Ms Ley has said energy policy should "start from the position of affordable, reliable, baseload power" and consider the energy needs of the manufacturing sector. Mr Willox said certainty about targets was important for the manufacturing sector, not just for investments in energy generation itself. "The one thing Peter Dutton said during the election campaign that was right on the money was that energy is the economy, and if we don't have energy right … Then we're really going to hobble ourselves as an economy," he said. "Energy is so important to a range of businesses, not just energy-intensive industry or generators or utilities, there is a whole range of things that are at stake here." He welcomed the nuclear debate and said there was merit in lifting the moratorium on nuclear energy, but that there were more pressing priorities. "The fact is that it is a longer-term option … Nuclear may have made things easier towards the end [of the transition] but as of now, it's not there. So we have to plan without it," he said. "What I kept hearing from the private sector was that in the Australian context, nuclear in the time frame that was being talked about wasn't going to stack up … Business needs to know that projects will be viable for a long time to make the investments they need to make, and at the moment it doesn't add up for nuclear for the private sector. "That's not to say that it won't in the future, but we're dealing with the here and now. That's why I think the Coalition went down the path of government funding to try to speed that up … [But] that changes the ball game when it comes to level playing fields around investment." Mr Willox said the debate the parliament needed to have was how to achieve the net zero transition, citing regulatory blockages as a major obstacle. "The government has through this last term had a whole range of objectives around renewable build and we just haven't achieved that as a country. We haven't built the solar farms, we haven't built the wind that was expected… "So we've got to look at a whole range of things around planning, around permitting, around construction time [and] construction cost." Mr Willox welcomed comments by Treasurer Jim Chalmers that productivity would be a focus for the Albanese government's second term. After the election, Mr Chalmers had said the economic priority of the second term would be "primarily productivity without forgetting inflation", inverting the priorities of the first term. New Environment Minister Murray Watt told the ABC this week reforming environment approval laws was one of his "highest priorities … Current environmental laws aren't working for the environment and they're not working for business." Mr Willox said productivity was "a very core message", including in the energy space. "We're really interested in what the government is saying it will do with Murray Watt in the environment portfolio, to see how we can unshackle [the approvals process] to allow the build to occur… "We have to get the social licence in place, the approvals, the permitting, and we've got to build it … Or else we're not going to achieve our targets. We're not going to achieve a 2030 target, let alone a 2035 target or a 2050 target."
Fibre2Fashion
10-05-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
Australia's manufacturing contraction eases in April: Ai Group
The Ai Group Australian Industry Index showed a slight improvement in April 2025, rising by 5.1 points to -15.0 (seasonally adjusted), though the index has remained in contraction for thirty-four consecutive months. Activity indicators painted a mixed picture. The activity/sales sub-index rose by 7.1 points to -18.3, while employment worsened, falling 5.8 points to -18.2 — a reflection of persistent labour shortages and pre-election business caution. Respondents cited continued cost-of-living pressures and labour market tightness as key challenges. Leading indicators, including new orders and input volumes, remained unchanged at -20.7 and -13.1 respectively, reflecting ongoing uncertainty in the domestic and global economic environment. Businesses reported holding off on investment and order placements amid fluctuating demand and geopolitical instability. Inflationary pressures appeared to ease further. While the sales price indicator dropped to -6.3, signalling weakened pricing power, input prices and wages saw marginal adjustments, a release from the Ai Group said. The wage price indicator rose 7.1 points to 39.8 but has remained largely steady since mid-2024. Businesses remain concerned about future price volatility stemming from US trade tensions and currency swings. Australia's broader manufacturing sector (PMI) also saw a softer contraction in April, with the index rising by 3.7 points. However, upstream manufacturing faced headwinds, as the chemicals sub-sector fell to -9.8—its lowest level since January—due to global trade friction and rising material costs. In downstream manufacturing, machinery and equipment fell sharply to -37.3, the lowest level since February 2021, amid supply chain bottlenecks and falling capital expenditure. Food, beverages and textiles saw the only improvement, rising 10.6 points to -16.6, though exports were hindered by high freight costs and tariff-related trade instability. Capacity utilisation edged down to 78.4 per cent, its lowest since mid-2020, as businesses grappled with equipment constraints, input shortages, and election-driven uncertainty. Australia's manufacturing sector (PMI) saw a softer contraction in April, rising by 3.7 points. However, upstream manufacturing remained under pressure as the chemicals sub-sector fell to -9.8, its lowest since January, impacted by global trade tensions and higher material costs. Broader industrial recovery remains fragile amid ongoing economic uncertainties. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
