Libs push Tony Abbott to act on dismissal laws



TONY Abbott faces renewed calls from within the Coalition to toughen his workplace relations policy, with an experienced Liberal MP calling for thousands of businesses to be made exempt from the unfair dismissal laws.    

Steve Ciobo, dumped from the Opposition Leader's front bench last year, says small businesses employing up to 20 full-time workers should not be subject to the unfair dismissal laws.

Mr Ciobo said he believed the laws were discouraging employers from hiring, as they feared being subject to legal action if they dismissed underperforming workers.

While the national jobless rate is 4.9 per cent, Mr Ciobo said that in the Gold Coast, where his electorate is based, the unemployment rate has risen to 8.1 per cent. "There is no doubt Labor's changes to the unfair dismissal laws have created a disincentive for small businesses to employ people," he said.

Mr Abbott has previously asked business to lead the way on making the case for industrial relations changes before the Coalition would take up the fight.


Business groups have been vocal in their call for changes to the Fair Work Act, with their push encouraging Coalition backbenchers who are keen for Mr Abbott and the Liberals to be more outspoken on industrial relations.

South Australian Liberal MP Jamie Briggs recently backed calls by Australian Industry Group head Heather Ridout for Labor to amend the workplace laws. Mr Briggs said Ms Ridout's comments showed business believed Julia Gillard's reforms had gone too far.

In the wake of Mr Ridout's comments, opposition workplace relations spokesman Eric Abetz called for a broader political debate on Labor's industrial relations laws.

But Senator Abetz's spokesman said yesterday the legislation needed to be given time to "bed down", and the Coalition did not have a "policy document on the table" for consideration. He said the Coalition would listen to the stakeholders, and if necessary investigate any problems.

Mr Ciobo pointed to the views of a Gold Coast businessman, Russell Murphy, who said businesses were being hurt by the unfair dismissal laws and the costs associated with Labor's review of the award system.

Mr Murphy, the owner of Ripley's Believe It or Not in Surfers Paradise, said the dismissal laws were "all one way" in favour of workers, making employers hesitant about hiring new staff.

He said his labour costs would increase substantially as a result of increased wages and penalty rates flowing from the changes to the awards system.   

Mr Murphy said he supported Mr Ciobo's calls for the federal unfair dismissal laws to be relaxed by exempting all small businesses with up to 20 full-time workers.

As if expanding businesses don't have legal loopholes to exploit around the 20 worker threshold - ones that don't require lobbying of pollies!?

The Liberals just do not get it on this topic.

The Howard government and every Liberal since have been obsessed with fixing a problem which never existed.

In the Howard government case they stuffed it up pretty good when they tried.

Unfair dismissal laws were never a problem in the first place, with about 300 claims per year half in Victoria relating to state laws it left under 30 claims per year from the other states mostly very justified.

The bounce back position we see now in much worse, the Liberal removal of unfair dismissal left employers prepared to go silly with their new power and just do whatever they liked.

The result has been a huge increase in the claims since the laws were returned mainly on the back of employers unfairly and illegally making dismissals because the Libs had convinced them that they would get away with it.

The only problem with unfair dismissal was caused by the Liberals in the first place.

Tony Abbott is a Christian with compassionate ideals - especially when he supports wars and wishes to make the worker a comsumable slave unit for corporate interests and render the familiy unit obselete

I am very impressed with Abbott's infinite capacity for compassion and humanism