Dutton’s plan to tear up IR laws on par with Work Choices: Labor   

Financial Review
Sep 18, 2024

The Albanese government has promised an election campaign on par with its 2007 Work Choices crusade after the opposition pledged to revoke most of Labor’s industrial relations reforms in the belief they would kill productivity and cost jobs.


Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt at the National Press Club.

At the same time, Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said the government would soon commission a review of the laws and was prepared to make “tweaks” depending on the findings.

The review will be conducted by yet-to-be selected industrial law experts, will hear from business and unions, and will be completed by the end of January.

This is despite some of the laws, such as multi-employer bargaining, having just come into effect. The right to disconnect laws began on August 26.

Senator Watt said there would be no “tweaks” until after the election, due by May at the latest and, ultimately, there would be no wholesale change.



“We’re not looking at backing down on the industrial relations laws we’ve introduced,” he said.

Industrial relations has moved to the forefront of the political debate over the past two weeks following concerted criticism by the mining and business sectors of the two tranches of laws the government introduced under the guise of getting wages moving again.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his senior shadow ministers have promised to review the labour hire crackdown provisions, which have especially affected miners and Qantas.

They have also vowed to revoke the laws which provide for multi-employer bargaining, a “right to disconnect”, and further adjustments to the definition of a casual worker. The Coalition says the latter two have proved a red tape nightmare for small and family business.

Addressing the National Press Club on Wednesday, Senator Watt said the Coalition’s changes would lower wages in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis “and that’s why workplace relations will be a key battleground at the next election”.   

“Make no mistake, Peter Dutton and the Coalition are the biggest threat to Australians’ wages and workplace conditions since Work Choices.”

Work Choices, the near-deregulation of industrial relations protections for workers, energised the labour movement to such an extent it was instrumental in the downfall of the Howard government in 2007.

In reality, the Coalition’s proposal would go nowhere near to WorkChoices but restore the IR system to the laws Julia Gillard introduced after abolishing WorkChoices.

Senator Watt claimed that under the Coalition’s approach, the average worker would be $3576 worse off this year in terms of lower wages.

Coupled with the Coalition’s initial opposition to revamping the stage three tax cuts and the $300 power bill discount in the May budget, the average worker would be $65 a week worse off, he said.

Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash shot back, saying there was little point talking about higher wages if people were being laid off and businesses were closing.

“Governments don’t create jobs, employers do,” she said.

“Governments put in place [an] economic framework, under which a business can either ... prosper, grow and create more, higher paying sustainable jobs or” not, she said.

Labor went to the last election promising to boost wages but gave no detail of its specific plans for, example, multi-employer bargaining. Pressed on what to expect in a second term of an Albanese government, Senator Watt said only that there would be no more changes before the election.

“We haven’t commenced thinking about a second-term agenda. My priority for the remainder of this term is bedding down the legislation and the changes that we’ve made, ensuring that they’re working as they were intended,” he said.

This includes conducting the review to work out “what’s working and what could be tweaked, but we wouldn’t think about that this side of the election”.

“Governments always take items to an agenda and then deliver extra things after they’re elected, and you’ve obviously got to make a judgment about whether you think that’s within the spirit of your mandate or not,” he said.

Senator Watt would not be drawn on what changes might be made as a result of the review.

“I’ve had things raised with me by employers and by unions. They’ll have an opportunity to put forward their submissions and we’ll see what the reviewers have to say, but I’m not going in with an agenda.”

Senator Cash said after keeping its IR plans secret before the last election, the government could not be trusted.

“Just like at the last election there was no mention of multi-employer bargaining, Australians can be in no doubt now that Labor have secret plans if they get voted back in,” she said.

“They will burden business with even more red tape and complexity and implement policies that will be in favour of their paymasters in the union movement.

“For example, unions have pushed for compulsory union bargaining fees for non-union members. Stand by for that policy if Labor get back into government.”