Summary
I first raised this issue in July 2021, and Labor ridiculed me because it was embarrassing the Labor party and the CFMMEU in the Hunter Valley. Australian workers cannot afford a repeat of their betrayal and mistakes.
We have been active in industrial relations and in protecting workers. Recent examples include standing up for the rights, entitlements and safety of abused casual coal miners in the Hunter Valley and central Queensland, securing conversion rights for casuals from casual to permanent, advocating for improved conditions for casuals in enterprise agreements, and preventing discrimination between casual and permanent workers under the Coal LSL scheme.
Restoring the entitlements of casual miners that the union bosses, the federal government and state governments and the Labor party ignored for seven years.
Put simply, both the Labor and Liberal-National parties have let Australia down. In addition to the exploitation of casual coal miners, Australians are suffering from:
COVID mismanagement, both Federal and state due to capricious lockdowns and mandates
The phasing out of the coal industry and jobs under the Liberal-Nationals and Labor
Erosion of our rights and freedoms
Killing manufacturing and hurting agriculture
Lack of much-needed tax reform
Lack of much-needed economic reform
Work, health and safety systems being bypassed
Australia's productive capacity being destroyed
The failure of our industrial relations system and more.
Our industrial relations system is broken, and it suits the IR Club not to fix it. The IR Club includes big business, union bosses, industry groups, lawyers and HR consultants. They all profit from the complexity of our IR laws, and in turn the IR Club supports the Liberal-Nationals and Labor parties.
Further, addressing issues around the GIG economy fails to identify the broader need for improved pay, entitlements, job security and change across our entire industrial relations system. The emergence of the GIG economy is in part a response to the failure of the Fair Work Act 2009.
We contributed to the Senate Select Committee on Job Security and we listened to stakeholders. We present additional information to highlight the poor understanding that Labor, union bosses and the Liberal/Nationals have for the real world—the business world where so many small to medium sized businesses, professionals, tradespeople, workers, self-employed people and contractors operate. Labor and the Liberal-National parties do not understand the needs of everyday Australians.
The private sector often lead innovation, and government is continually found running behind catching up. Why, because there is no real partnership or trust between government and business.
Industrial relations regulation in Australia is too prescriptive and complex. It disempowers both employees and employers from rebuilding and securing Australia's post-pandemic jobs market.
The Fair Work system is over-engineered and complex. Many of the provisions serve merely to protect trade union bosses and employer associations while doing little to protect or to promote the interests of workers.
Australia's industrial relations system was designed to favour big business and has created many problems for small to medium sized businesses, yet neither Labor nor the Liberal-National parties want to fix it.
The solution for the GIG economy lies in system-wide reform and the out-dated IR Club has to go. Its members create conflict and cost Australian workers and Australian business too much. We need simple industrial relations that aligns with the needs of employees and employers, one that addresses the needs of workers and small, medium and large business.
We believe that workers deserve better pay and protections and that business, especially small to medium size business, needs clarity, simplicity and less red tape.
A sustainable business creates secure jobs, which is a WIN-WIN for employees and employers.
(1)
Job security is vital for workers. It is a primary concern, whether an employee, a contractor or business owner. Workers have families, commitments, mortgages and more.
(2)
COVID, government restrictions, mismanagement and overreach have destroyed job security. Federal and state government lockdowns and restrictions, supported by Labor and the union bosses, have had a debilitating effect on workers, on their jobs, their lives and mental health.
(3)
Coal industry job security. Casual coal miners did not even exist under the Black Coal Mining Industry Award, yet business and union bosses accepted them and oversaw their abuse, including lower pay and conditions than the permanent workers they work beside. All major political parties push coals demise through the UN's 2050 Net Zero.
(4)
True economic reform. As the tired old Liberal-National and Labor parties talk job security we are seeing the businesses that create jobs and build a strong economy being damaged by more and more red tape. Government needs to get out of the way and let the market create jobs and economic growth. Government needs to create the environment for small business and investors to create jobs for workers.
(5)
GIG economy reform. The GIG sector evolved out of innovation, now the union bosses and the government are trying to catch up. GIG developed outside of the rules and bureaucracy that government and union bosses created to regulate how we work and think.
(6)
The GIG economy and government failures—the USA's AB5 experience. AB5 refers to a Californian law and it was designed as a way to get rideshare companies like Uber to classify all their contract drivers as employees and bring them under restrictive conditions that stifled business. AB5 unintentionally captured many professionals and tradespeople and destroyed jobs.
(7)
True industrial relations reform. The exploitation of casual workers and the GIG economy are symptoms of a broken industrial relations system, as businesses solve the problems that government and union bosses are unwilling to address. We must reform our industrial relations system. We must create a system that meets the needs of workers and all tiers of business not just big business and union bosses.
(8)
Safety Systems. The GIG economy has leapt ahead of regulation. As we saw changes to the nature of casual work over the past ten to fifteen years, we saw how government and union bosses were slow to respond, ignoring casuals who were harmed. We need a new approach, so the GIG economy does not suffer the same fate. As people more and more become their own bosses, many for the first time, they need to understand how to work and how to do business efficiently and safely.
(9)
Australia's Productive Capacity. During COVID, Labor governments in Australia were some of the first to let go their 'on-demand' workers, the casual employees and self-employed 'independent contractors'. Why? Because they do not care about them. The mismanagement of COVID-19 has left Australia economically vulnerable, for example, small business. This is at a time when under successive Labor and Liberal/National governments we have seen Australia's actual productive capacity drift lower and lower.
(10)
Our approach. Since coming to Parliament, we have fought for the rights of everyday Australians, and we have stood up for casual coal miners even when the IR system and the very union bosses who were supposed to represent them cast them aside and helped exploit casuals. We support system-wide IR reform focussed on the employee-employer relationship, more simplicity and less red tape.
This Senate inquiry has not sufficiently considered the needs of those everyday Australians, who for lifestyle reasons may be looking for flexible work. They have not listened to the everyday people who benefit from the GIG economy and the Senate inquiry is not focussed on either job creation, on flexibility or on building Australia's productive capacity.
By listening and learning we understand that the GIG economy has been here for many years. Example, it is the business model used by the professions (doctors, lawyers and architects, etc.) and by trades people, electricians, plumbers and carpenters.
Clearly though, GIG work is not for everybody. Some witnesses referred to the harms of GIG work and others have told us that GIG is attractive to people who want to be their own bosses, who can work when and where they want to work—if so, these are lifestyle choices we should respect.
Unless the GIG model benefits the IR Club and union bosses, they oppose it and they rail against workers' freedoms and rights to choose—they do not want change. Yet change is here.
Reform of the industrial relations system in response to the expansion of the GIG economy may have unintended consequences which could affect the Australian economy, our freedoms and our way of life. Consideration must be given to the impact on workers such as:
Tradespeople—electricians, plumbers, carpenters and more;
Self-employed people (including entertainers and artists).
Before implementing any change, the government needs to take care to ensure that it is not denying the rights of people to work, as and when they want to.
Many people today have needs that require flexibility in work that today's inflexible laws and IR system cannot address. Many people now favour and want an alternative to the '9 to 5' office work paradigm, and they should be offered that choice.
Discussion and Recommendations
What Australians need, is fair pay, terms and conditions and protections for workers. Australian workers deserve secure jobs.
For too long in Australia we have seen workers, like casual coal miners in the Hunter Valley and Queensland, being abused because big business and the union bosses created industrial relations complexity and loopholes that they exploited for years.
We stood up for casual workers when the Government, Labor and the union bosses refused to even create a definition for a casual coal miner, a gap that exploited workers and placed so many injured workers at risk of not getting their rightful benefits and protections such as accident pay.
We supported legislative change to add casual conversion rights and protections for casual workers, giving more choice yet retaining their flexibility and casual loading.
The fact is that Labor, some union bosses and the Liberal-Nationals are inflexible, and they do not understand anything except big business—hence Australia has a big business focussed one-size-fits-all industrial relations system that is hard to understand, and it causes problems for the worker and employer alike.
We believe that more attention should be given to the employee—employer relationship, to recognising and rewarding achievement in remuneration and to improving fundamental workplace rights, entitlements and protections.
The GIG economy is a new threat to big business and union bosses. Union bosses do not care about the GIG people, they are worried that this innovation might take members away from unions.
The June 2020 Victorian report into the GIG economy included reference to a national survey of 14,000 people which discovered that 7.1 per cent were currently doing GIG work. Of that 7.1 per cent, just 2.7 per cent had GIG work as their full-time income. This points to a significant change in the way Australians work. Trends like this need to be better understood before Labor and union bosses shoot them down because it seems too hard for them to keep up with changing workforce trends and people's needs.
It was reported in 2020 that in the USA, the California Democrats introduced a law to 'protect' Uber drivers, etc. making them employees. The legislation is called 'AB5'. The outcome of this law was a disaster. It increased unemployment and it pushed employers, jobs and families out of the state. Under Labor nationally and in Victoria, Australia may be at risk of doing the same.
Small to medium sized businesses everywhere, professionals and tradespeople could be harmed if this Inquiry leads to implementation of an Australian version of AB5. This must be discouraged.
Australia's IR system must become more responsive to the needs of employees and employers by adapting to changing conditions and needs. It must enable secure jobs and greater flexibility and more choice for Australians, especially for workers and small to medium business.
Australia's IR systems are not strategically aligned with building job security or our productive capacity. Fair Work is focussed on mediocrity and does not enable workers to be recognised and rewarded for their abilities and achievements. More attention should be given to recognising and rewarding achievement in remuneration and to securing basic workplace rights, entitlements and protections.
Sustainable businesses create job security not more regulations that put business at risk.
We need practical solutions not political posturing. That means identifying the core problems and aligning the response with people's needs. We need a simple, fit-for-purpose IR system, not more red tape.
Enough is enough. The GIG economy and the lack of understanding and preparedness for change by union bosses and government has demonstrated how far out of touch and inflexible the Labor and Liberal-National parties are.
Two years of state Labor and federal Liberal-National government mismanagement of COVID has damaged our economy, our way of working, our jobs and our businesses, at a time when business needs flexibility and workers need secure jobs. Government must enable business and jobs.
Australia and Australians need:
Secure jobs and business enabling solutions that add value to the economy.
Protections, rights and fair entitlements for workers.
Government and stakeholders (Labor/union bosses) that embrace and respond to productive change, rather than fighting it.
Bureaucrats who are responsive to community and lifestyle changes including work patterns. Who can help policy to keep up with our lifestyle and work.
Government focussed investment in local business and job creation—future proofing jobs.
Targeted incentives for business to manufacture in Australia—value adding and job creating.
Removal of the one-size-fits-all industrial relations system.
Simplify and improve the Australian taxation system and make it more efficient.
Reduce the high cost of energy for business and households.
Reduce business compliance costs, red tape and onerous costs to small/medium business.
Give Australians back our freedom of choice and rights to life and liberty.
Job security is vital for workers
It is a primary concern whether an employee, a contractor or business owner. Workers have families, commitments, mortgages and more.
Yet nowhere in the Senate Select Committee Inquiry have we heard reference to the culprits of much of the abuse to workers, the IR Club. The union bosses, lawyers, interest groups and industry groups who abuse and neglect the real needs of workers. The current Industrial relations system enables shadowy figures to exploit workers for their own profit. This Committee has not raised this.
COVID and government restrictions have destroyed job security
Federal and state government lockdowns, vaccine mandates and restrictions supported by Labor and the union bosses have had a debilitating effect on business and on workers, on their jobs, their lives and mental health. In many sectors, especially small business, it has directly contributed to job insecurity with capricious lockdowns and vaccine mandates. The Queensland Palaszczuk Government has even sacked healthcare heroes, police and teachers for not complying with inhuman dictates.
It is hard to pay the bills and wages as a business when the government capriciously forces closures. Lockdowns affected the GIG sector as well, despite using protective equipment and hygiene. There were no customers, and this has resulted in many GIG workers suffering.
Capricious government-imposed restrictions and vaccine mandates have put more Australians out of jobs and the employment data is yet to reveal the full extent. One example is the increase in under-employment, which in some instances is forcing more Australians into the GIG economy to make ends meet.
Australian workers' needs for freedom, stability and job security are being ignored.
Another victim of COVID has been Australia's fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, the Morrison government enabled COVID tracking systems to track us and Labor states such as Victoria have imposed laws that take away rights as Australians. These laws are fundamentally changing our ability to access businesses and entertainment, they therefore threaten the viability of business and impact job security.
The biggest threat to job security in Australia are Liberal-National and Labor policies.
Coal industry job security
In the third interim report of the Select Committee on Job Security, we see reference to the increase in labour hire, casualisation and contracting (page 1 et seq). Yet for years we did not see the ACTU or big union bosses try to fix the problem. Casual coal miners did not even legally exist under the Black Coal Mining Industry Award, yet big business and union bosses colluded to oversee their abuse, including lower pay and conditions than the permanent workers they worked beside. Union bosses exploited workers and signed sub-standard enterprise agreements and allowed contractors and sub-contractors on mine sites when it was clear that the employee—employer relationship would never be the same again, thanks to their greed.
We have stood up for casual coal miners even when the industrial relations system and the very union bosses who were supposed to represent them, cast them aside and helped to exploit casuals. The union bosses have admitted that they were happy to take casuals membership fees yet would not defend workers.
Now both the LNP and Labor threaten job security for coal miners and other industries as they promote expensive unsustainable energy policies in a kneejerk reaction to appease the UN's climate change industry. Where are the new, REAL secure jobs for our miners and workers? They are just dreams which will become our children's nightmare.
True economic reform
As the tired old Liberal-National and Labor parties talk job security we are seeing the businesses that create jobs and build a strong economy being damaged by more and more red tape. Government needs to stop controlling us and to get out of the way and let the market create jobs and economic growth through entrepreneurs and investors.
Small and medium businesses have been significantly damaged by Liberal‑National and Labor policies and red tape. Removing restrictions and enabling business will result in improved productive capacity, jobs and greater job security.
It is time to take a Big Picture approach to job security, looking at all of the contributing factors that strangle business and jobs:
Simplify and improve the Australian taxation system so foreign companies pay their fair share.
Reduce the high cost of energy for business and households. Energy costs are wiping out manufacturing jobs.
Reform—removal of the artificial controls and restrictions of a one-size-fits‑all industrial relations system.
Reduce business compliance costs and onerous costs for small to medium business.
Give Australians back their freedom of choice and rights to life and liberty.
GIG economy reform
The GIG sector evolved out of innovation in response to the cost and complexity of compliance with Australia's industrial relations system. GIG developed outside of the rules and red tape that government and the IR Club created to regulate and control how we work and think. Now the union bosses and the government are trying to catch up.
The GIG economy is not for every industry nor for everybody. Yet there are many reasons why some everyday Australians may prefer flexible GIG work to permanent employment. These include:
Freedom—people are given more independence and freedom to choose when and where to work—particularly for those with young families, studying or with other lifestyle interests;
Win-Win—through increased opportunities for the low skilled and unemployed to better themselves through new skills or additional income;
Risk mitigation—many people today believe they are actually more secure by having multiple jobs (i.e., they can fall back on one job if another doesn't work out);
Diversification—working in multiple industries builds different skills and capabilities to further career opportunities; and,
Extra income—for people who are 'moonlighting' to earn more money.
Other GIG workers may be students who have variable class and exam times. This often means that they find it hard to commit to fixed hours or days of employment. Individual employment arrangements may give them the flexibility to satisfy their needs.
It is quite inaccurate to say that the GIG economy is new, or that it is an excuse for exploitation. The truth seems to be quite the opposite. It may actually provide opportunities to those who would otherwise go without, and it rewards those who work harder and/or smarter than those on restrictive old work agreements that perpetuate the IR Club.
For clarity, on-demand workers are those employed 'as needed by a business', rather than on an ongoing basis. The GIG economy has existed for years, for example, services such as doctors, lawyers, architects and more, many are engaged using a similar model. The new element is the use of algorithms to manage the customer-provider relationship.
Innovation such as the GIG economy must give people a fair go. It should never be used to exploit people. Whether GIG workers are employees or independent contractors still requires consideration of people's needs to have a secure job/income. Again, business professionals and self-employed people are an example of how the GIG economy has successfully worked and profited them through reward for performance over many years.
As the GIG economy broadened, courtesy of the internet and 'algorithms' without borders, we have seen a change in how business and individuals inter-relate, work and do business. Change is not going to go away, nor should it be strangled by government red tape or money hungry union bosses.
At the same time, the government rightly has had to catch up to innovation, such as ensuring the multinational businesses are paying their share of taxation and that GIG workers are supported.
For those people suited to it, the GIG model may offer independence from many of the onerous rules and red tape and instead offer personal pride and reward for performance.
Change to the industrial relations system in response to the expansion of the GIG economy may have unintended consequences which could affect the Australian economy, our freedoms and our way of life. Consideration must be given to the impact on: lawyers, architects, accountants, doctors, IT workers, self-employed people (including entertainers and artists); and, tradespeople—electricians, plumbers, carpenters and more.
We are opposed to government wielding its tendering/purchasing power to exclude businesses and sole traders if they engage GIG or contracted resources. This is both anti-competitive and favours big business and the IR Club over everyday Australians. Businesses need to be flexible, to be dynamic and to scale up to meet market needs, government needs to understand this.
Recommendation
The use of the GIG business model in the National Disability Insurance Scheme or aged care requires a solution to first and foremost address the safety, risks and needs for care recipients. Included in this business model must be certification of current competency and insurances to protect aged and NDIS recipients, as well as the provider.
Rather than focussing on the red tape, the IR Club and Australia's broken industrial relations system, GIG reforms should focus on supporting those who are independent contractors by offering business coaching and management advice and support on whether it is right for their wants and needs. They need to know how to negotiate a better agreement, to understand customer needs, business development and financial and risk management, as we do for small businesses. This way people will not be on their own, this contributes to 'job security'.
Rather than relying first and foremost on the legal system to solve problems between parties in the GIG economy, consideration should be given to the establishment of a no-cost, independent arbitration system to resolve disputes.
The GIG economy and government failures—the USA's AB5 experience
As a warning don't do this. AB5 refers to a Californian law. It was designed as a way to force rideshare companies like Uber to classify all their contract drivers as employees and bring them under restrictive regulations and conditions.
To do this, via AB5 legislation, the state restricted contract work over a wide area, including restricting the rights of large numbers of people, including lawyers, architects, doctors, IT workers and tradespeople, to work as contractors. Instead, they had to be employees under a regime that stifled work flexibility, reward and innovation.
The result was reported as being catastrophic for business in California, with businesses and jobs drying up and the unemployment rate skyrocketing well above the US national rate.
Recommendation
The government, Labor and some union bosses need to understand that business innovation and people's needs should never be stifled. It is a source of satisfaction, worker security and business sustainability.
That no law or regulations similar in nature to AB5 be proposed or implemented in Australia or be incorporated under Australia's industrial relations system.
That the government, Labor and unions should listen to and be responsive to business and worker lifestyle change rather than trying to stop what they do not understand. They should focus on solutions that are for people, and not just profitable for some union bosses and the IR Club.
True industrial relations reform
The GIG economy growth is a result of a broken industrial relations system, as businesses solve the problems and gaps that government, Labor and the IR Club are unwilling to do.
We must reform our industrial relations system. We must create a system that meets the needs of workers and all tiers of business, not just big business, and restore the employee – employer relationship.
For Australia to continue to be a great place to live and work, we must commit to improving our productive capacity and to rebuilding the employee—employer relationship. We must get rid of the special access and privileges enjoyed by the so called 'IR Club', who are the people who profit from conflict between workers and employers and who have no interest in making the IR system better or simpler.
Job security is a joke to the IR Club because if we all had secure jobs they would be out of work.
The current IR system was built by big business and big union bosses to benefit big business and big union bosses. Why should workers and small to medium businesses continue to put up with this broken system and why should sole traders and contractors be told how to work?
Recommendation
One person businesses, contractors and small business should not be subjected to the same onerous IR systems, red tape and inflexible regulations that have been built for big business, union bosses and the IR Club.
The IR system should de-prioritise the IR Club and prioritise employees and employers. It must provide more support for employees and employers and rebuild the primacy of the workplace relationship.
That Australia's industrial relations system is no longer fit for purpose, and it should be scrapped in favour of a simpler IR system that protects workers' entitlements and supports and enables business at each level, small, medium and large.
Australia's IR systems are focussed on mediocrity and do not enable workers to be recognised and rewarded for their abilities and achievements. More attention should be given to recognising and rewarding achievement in remuneration and on securing equal pay for an equal job.
Safety systems
As we saw the growth of the GIG economy and to casual work over the past ten to fifteen years, we saw how government and unions were slow to respond, ignoring calls for protection and job security from abused casuals. We need a new approach, so more workers do not suffer the same fate as abused casual coal miners. As people become their own bosses, many for the first time, they need to understand the risks, how to work and how to do business profitably and safely.
After all, nobody wants to be harmed, yet to date nobody has been there to help them.
Flexibility is a part of what makes being a sole trader attractive. They do not want to be strangled by a massive and complex set of onerous government regulations and audits. What they really need is help. Simple, focussed tools, messages, checklists and no red tape.
Safety first for every worker and business. People, systems and safe methods must be at the centre of a simple and understandable safety management program to support the GIG economy and workers. To achieve this government needs a paradigm shift, to think small business and not big business. If it is not tailored to GIG businesses, then government will have failed.
Safe Work Australia should support GIG economy participants and entrants as part of a 'toolkit' by providing simple information sheets (in appropriate languages) to explain how the Work Health and Safety Laws and regulations apply to this new industry sector and what entrants should consider when setting up their business. It is important to deliver support at a time and place when a person is considering/planning entry into this sector, and it should include support as to what risk and insurance coverage they may need. This message could be promoted by Safe Work to state level work health and safety authorities to ensure quality and consistency.
The safety 'toolkit' should be aimed at addressing and insuring against foreseeable risks as a business/sole trader, as well as ensuring compliance with safety rules and obligations to work safe.
Safety legislation should not be used to force a change in the relationship between on-demand companies and sole traders. For example, by inappropriately defining people as workers or employees or by defining parties as being a 'person conducting a business or undertaking' (PCBU). In this respect the definition in the legislation must be clarified to remove doubt. (Note discussion in the Job Security Inquiry's First Interim Report at page 9).
Recommendation
That the GIG economy needs to be recognised and supported through a toolkit incorporating a suite of simple guidelines and programs including health and safety tailored to sole trader businesses and risks.
That safety is not used as a weapon to stifle innovation and one person enterprises, small businesses and contractors. Instead, genuine safety should be used to enhance productivity and worker engagement.
Where sole traders provide services into sectors such as aged care and NDIS, they must be made aware of care and safety standards and of their obligations to insure against all relevant risks and harms.
Australia's productive capacity
During COVID, Labor governments in Australia were some of the first to sideline their 'on-demand' workers, casual employees and self-employed contractors. These people were stood down or sacked. Why, because Labor and the union bosses do not care about them. The mismanagement of COVID-19 has destroyed jobs and lives and left Australia economically vulnerable. For example, small business has been battered.
Productive capacity is the maximum possible output of an economy. In turn, it can contribute to more jobs, job security, improved pay and conditions and improved lifestyle. For many years, Australia's productive capacity has drifted lower under the weight of complex and costly taxes, energy prices, industrial relations laws and red tape.
COVID mismanagement has compounded the destruction from successive Labor and Liberal- National governments where we have seen Australia's actual productive capacity drift lower and lower. Our reliance on the cash generated by selling our resources such as coal and iron ore, without value adding to them here through a sustainable manufacturing sector, has seen Australia drift towards economic mediocrity as other economies grow.
Any threat to innovation or to maintaining a flexible labour market drives Australia further towards risk of being made uncompetitive in the world economy. In turn, that destroys job security.
Recommendation
Australia must focus on rebuilding its productive capacity through better IR systems, cheaper energy and lower taxes, as well as innovation and programs focussed on industry, exports, more jobs of every kind and providing job security.
The Australian government must focus on value adding to exports rather than just exporting raw minerals. We must reinvigorate competitive manufacturing industries and technology that bring income into Australia—stopping the haemorrhaging of capital to overseas tax havens.
Our approach
Since coming to Parliament, we have fought for the rights of everyday Australians, and we have stood up for casual coal miners even when the IR system and the very union bosses who were supposed to represent them cast them aside and helped exploit casuals. The union bosses were happy to take their membership fees but would not defend them.
Unless a worker is employed by a big business and is permanently employed, they are likely to be ignored by unions and Labor. We learned this when we first heard about the abuses of injured casual coal miners in the Hunter Valley and the associated union bosses confirmed it to us.
When we looked at Queensland and its large casual labour hire workforce in mining, we found that casual workers were worried for their jobs and because the unions would not defend them. This came out clearly in evidence to the recent Grosvenor Mine Disaster Inquiry that we presented a submission to.
The IR system needs to provide better security and protection for the 'unrepresented', whatever class of work they do.
Our investigations found that thousands of casual coal miners were let down by their union bosses who for years signed agreements that allowed the employer to pay casuals up to 40 per cent less than permanent workers doing the same job and hours alongside them. Likewise, union run organisations, such as Coal LSL, profited from casual worker contributions, yet very few casual union members ever got the benefits.
The real question that Labor is avoiding is why does Labor allow casuals to be treated differently to permanent workers who do the same job and why did Labor not protect them and close the wage gap and provide protections long ago?
The ageing policies and fake 'green' election promises of both the Liberal-Nationals and Labor will lead Queensland and NSW to losing thousands of mining jobs and dislocate thousands of families, spelling the death knell for many regional cities and towns. High-cost energy from renewables does not generate long term jobs, it kills long term jobs and towns. The large parties are anti-change, anti-business and anti-innovation; they are anti-worker, anti-job security, and are just trying to preserve 'yesterday' and a one-size-fits-all set of complex industrial laws benefitting their mates in the IR Club.
Conclusion
At the time of drafting this document, Australians are witnessing disruption to our lives, jobs and the labour market due to poor planning and government mismanagement in response to COVID-19.
Our financial future is by no means certain given the lockdowns, job losses and workplace change we have seen since 2019. This is not a time for more draconian laws and red tape, it is a time for government to get out of the way and to enable small to medium business and workers lead Australia's economic recovery.
For many years, we have seen mediocrity rule the Australian industrial relations system and innovation stifled since innovation threatens the IR Club's control of the one-size-fits-all approach to pay and conditions.
Innovations such as the GIG economy may not be perfect, yet it offers some individuals the opportunity that the Liberal-Nationals, Labor and the union bosses do not offer—a job that rewards their input at a time and place suited to them. For some, it offers independence from the IR Club's controls, complexity and suppressions.
It is not for everybody, and we do not recommend that it become a significant part of Australia's workforce due to an outdated and complex IR system that meets the IR Club's needs and not the needs of workers and small to medium businesses.
Labor's GIG economy response is just another example of the Labor party and the union bosses failing to keep up with the wants and needs of everyday Australian workers. The best way to stop GIG growth is to deliver a better industrial relations system, to remove the IR Club and red tape and to enable small to medium businesses to recover and create jobs.
Labor and the union bosses are afraid of the GIG economy and any change that does not bring them members and cash. This Labor paradigm sees them falling behind the wants and needs of everyday Australians who are calling for jobs and opportunities tailored to their lifestyle and needs and who want their workplace entitlements and protections restored.
Labor, the union bosses and the Liberal-Nationals do not have any solutions except supporting the old way and big business—this is why Australia has a big business focussed, one-size-fits-all industrial relations system that is hard to understand and causes problems for worker and employer alike.
We have stood up for workers such as the casuals in the coal mining industry at a time when the unions took their membership fees for no service and exploited casual workers.
We continue to stand up for workers, for small to medium size business and for innovation that improves job security, productive capacity, profitability and our Australian way of life.
Australians deserve better. We deserve a fit-for-purpose industrial relations system. We need simple, understandable rules that cuts more red tape and that enables entrepreneurs and investors to create high-paying, secure jobs to make Australia strong and to restore workers' pay, protections and job security.
We will continue to advocate for positive change in industrial relations, for protections for workers and for a secure future for Australian small, medium and large business.
Senator Malcolm Roberts
PHON Senator for Queensland