Nearly a dozen entities across the business sector have raised concerns about the Labor Government pushing through workplace relations amendments without proper public scrutiny.
A joint statement by 11 parties, including the Australian Retailers Association and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims the current policy will hit Australian business and workers with more costs and complexity.
“The Government looks set to dump more than one hundred amendments into Parliament this week as they seek to avoid proper public scrutiny by rushing their radical workplace relations changes through the House of Representatives in a matter of days,” the joint statement read.
“We, Australia’s major employer groups, are concerned that with only one sitting week of the House of Representatives before Christmas, there will not be adequate time for debate and proper examination of laws which will impact the entire economy.”
The 11 entities are calling for an extension of the Senate Committee Report in the Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill if the government decides to roll out their amendments this week.
In a speech to media on Sunday, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke condemned the Opposition for pushing off the Closing Loopholes legislation to the Senate.
“They say they can put it off until next year, even though when we get to next year, they've already said they're going to vote no,” Burke said.
“At every single turn the political divide in Australia is really simple: we have a Government trying to get wages moving and help with cost of living and an Opposition ‘No’ to everything.”
Burke said there is nothing more important than what’s happening in Australian homes regarding the cost of living.
“That's why for myself, the determination to get wages moving is so important,” he said. “Wages are already now going up in ways that we had not seen for more than a decade.
“But there are still a whole lot of people being underpaid. We could have fixed that for them this year.
“Yet once again, the Opposition have pushed off in the Senate the Closing Loopholes legislation because they don't even want to consider whether we can stop people's underpayments this year.”
Returning to the joint statement, the 11 employer groups accused the government of making amendments and hiding them from the public.
“We only expect them to be finally released on Tuesday afternoon [today], giving MPs no time to scrutinise the detail before being asked to accept it,” the statement continued.
“These changes will affect every business and every worker, and rushing amendments without proper consultation will do nothing more than tinker at the edges of the 800 pages of legislation.
“All the major problems with the Bill still remain and the changes, reported in recent weeks, do nothing to allay our significant fears. In fact, the Bill remains confusing, complex and costly.
“Unfortunately, we, Australian’s leading employer groups, believe the Government is unwilling to listen to any views which they do not agree with.”
According to the 11 parties, the Bill will impact up to 2.7 million casual employees with less flexible jobs and the loss of 25% loading income.
They also expect the Bill, in its current form, to expand the circumstances in which unions can enter workplaces without prior notice and impose complexity onto small business.
“We also reiterate our support for splitting the four non-controversial Bills, which have widespread support from the crossbench and Coalition in both houses of Parliament,” the statement read.
“We urge the Government to genuinely listen to the concerns of businesses and workers to identify the issues it is really seeking to resolve, and engage openly and transparently to find solutions.”
Other entities who backing the joint statement include the Business Council of Australia, Australian Energy Producers, Australian Industry Group, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, Master Builders Australia, Minerals Council of Australia, National Farmers Federation, the Recruitment, Consulting and Staffing Association, and the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association.