The Albanese government’s industrial relations legislation attack on 900,000 family businesses has the potential to be a major 2025 election issue, because further attacks are in the government’s arsenal.
On the surface, the attacks should make Peter Dutton a strong favourite to win the next election.
But to date, he has not related well to the family business issue. Perhaps under the influence of his deputy leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Michaelia Cash, when Dutton does attack in the family business arena, all too often he has focused on unions.
Cash is skilled at decimating unions, but until now, family businesses have had little contact with unions, so the bashing of unions carries limited impact.
This may change when families are required to have a union representative on their staff, but at present unions are not the main game on the family business electoral agenda.
Accordingly, the debate over industrial relations legislation must start with the severe problems being faced by family enterprises.
The Albanese government started its term in office as a friend of family business, but now appears to be dedicating itself to making life as tough as possible for them.
In addition to the latest industrial relations legislation measures, more weapons are being mobilised in its anti-family business agenda. But they don’t involve unions.
Whether Dutton and Cash can adjust to non-union issues remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, we now know joining the Albanese government and the Greens in the anti-family business attacks is likely to be the so-called “independent” Senator David Pocock.
He broke parliamentary convention when he first set up a whole parliamentary process to examine the industrial relations bill, including the family business attacks, but then pulled the rug on his structure when he was given the chance to attack family business.
This means he is likely to support the ALP and the Greens in the remaining parts of the industrial relations legislation. One Pocock support pillar may be the Albanese government’s attempt to make causal labour so complicated family businesses will find it too risky to employ casuals.
And he might also delight in getting rid of independent small business truckies by slashing the powers of the ACCC to enable unions and large companies to form a cartel to lift prices.
If Pocock forces through a virtual elimination of casual labour, then a whole range of political issues arise, because the Pocock-Greens-ALP combination will be prescribing a 25 per cent pay reduction for a vast number of Australians under mortgage and rent stress.
Leaving aside parliamentary pensions, Pocock is one of the wealthiest politicians in parliament. He earned large sums as a successful professional rugby player.
It is very hard for people with large amounts of wealth to relate to struggling family businesses or those under mortgage or rent stress.
As a former policeman, Dutton doesn’t have anything like Pocock’s non-parliamentary pension wealth, so that gives him an advantage in relating to the ordinary Australian
Pocock also rammed through criminal penalties for those who make mistakes in pay rates.
In the family business area, the complexity of the vast numbers of different pay rates are a total nightmare. Big companies can afford large human resource and payroll system analysts to make sure they don’t break the law.
But for small enterprises, avoiding breaking the law usually involves working until midnight after a whole day’s work. It's so easy now to make a mistake and become a criminal.
Again, one wouldn’t expect the ALP or the Greens to understand that. But Pocock set himself up as a family business advocate. In his defence, perhaps he did not understand the implications of what he was doing.
Dutton already has a smorgasbord of attack fronts as a result of the recent Albanese government mistakes. But there are a lot more issues to come on the family business front. There is no certainty he will have the skills to convert those opportunities into residence at the lodge.
Footnote: I am going to have a short break over Christmas, but I look forward to elaborating on family business and the many other issues that will arise in 2024. Your support in 2023 — including those who have a different view — has overwhelmed me. Have a wonderful Christmas.
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