You might have seen this Government advertisement (pdf) in the newspaper, or in some of the commentary since. I most recently saw it mentioned as the hook for a David Peetz column in The Courier-Mail. He points out the hypocrisy involved in encouraging small business to consider collective bargaining in order to “to be on [...]
A while ago I did some research into the Independent Contractors of Australia, a group that claims to represent workers but has very strong links to right-wing think tanks and employer lobby groups. It was set up by HR Nicholls Society activists to push for an Independent Contractors Act that would make it easier for [...]
In the most recent issue of Overland, Katherine Wilson writes about a man called Ross Irvine, who toured Australia recently to teach big business “how to create bogus community groups, false statistics, and links with ‘far-right-wing nutso activists’.” She went along to his seminar, along with some very important people: Filing in to see him [...]
The Independent Contractors Bill went before parliament yesterday, and the Minister for IR gave his second reading speech: Today, in introducing the Independent Contractors Bill and the Workplace Relations Amendment (Independent Contractors) Bill, I remind the House that [E]veryone’s life opportunities are diminished by…restrictions on the freedom to work. The Minister has used this quotation [...]
When finance minister Nick Minchin spoke to the hardline H R Nicholls Society earlier this year, he spoke frankly about the Howard Government’s industrial relations package. Minchin told his friends that although “the Australian people don’t agree at all with anything we’re doing on this”, there was “still a long way to go”. He hoped [...]
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