Federal election 2016: double hit for Bill Shorten on penalty rates

Bill Shorten is under mounting pressure on a key Labor campaign pledge to ‘keep’ weekend penalty rates.

Bill Shorten is under mounting pressure on a key Labor campaign pledge to “keep’’ weekend penalty rates, after he failed to guarantee they would not be downgraded if Labor won office.

After his campaign message was derailed last week by internal turbulence over asylum-seeker policy, the Opposition Leader now faces an assault from the ­labour movement and the ­political Left over weekend penalty rates. Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney is pressing Mr Shorten to provide greater protections for penalty rates and the Greens are pledging legislation to protect them while campaigning in heartland Labor seats, including ­Anthony Albanese’s Grayndler,

Mr Shorten held firm to his policy of abiding by Fair Work Australia’s looming decision on Sunday penalty rates but pledged to intervene in the deliberations if Labor won office, declaring the “case to get rid of penalty rates simply doesn’t stack up’’. Mr Shorten’s comments came after Labor employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor was accused of dodging questions from Melbourne 3AW radio host Neil Mitchell about whether Labor would guarantee to keep penalty rates.

Labor’s innovation and industry spokesman, Kim Carr, in an ­interview on the ABC, appeared to cast doubt on whether Labor would accept a decision by the Fair Work Commission to cut weekend penalty rates. “All of my experience with the Labor Party is that our defence of penalty rates is absolute and I expect that to continue,’’ Senator Carr said.

Mr Shorten rejected using legislation to guarantee penalty rates, warning the Greens were “playing with fire’’ by advocating laws to enshrine them. “They are loading the gun for a future conservative government to pull the trigger, because what the government had the power to put in, a ­future government has the power to dismantle,’’ Mr Shorten said.

In Labor campaign advertisements released last week Mr Shorten vowed: “We’ll keep weekend penalty rates.’’

The Fair Work Commission is expected to hand down a decision on the future of Sunday penalty rates soon after the election. ­Employer groups argue Sunday penalty rates should be reduced to the level of Saturday penalty rates in the hospitality and retail industries, but unions are fighting the move.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash accused the opposition of trying to “hoodwink the Australian people’’ .

Malcolm Turnbull, campaigning in Western Australia, piled pressure on Mr Shorten, declaring him a “threat to the economy’’. “He cannot be trusted on ­national security and you see again the division over penalty rates,” the Prime Minister said. “Our position is quite straightforward: there is an umpire, Fair Work. We will abide by their rulings.”

Mr Turnbull accused Senator Carr and Mr O’Connor of “disowning’’ Mr Shorten. “What Labor is doing is quietly crab-walking to a position where they can do a deal with the Greens,’’ Mr Turnbull said. “Labor knows they’re going to sell out to the Greens. So that means a weaker approach to border protection — that’s one of the Greens’ asks — a higher carbon tax, higher taxes on business and, of course, ignoring any ruling that comes from Fair Work, unless it suits the Greens.’’

Greens leader Richard Di ­Natale hit back at Mr Shorten: “I simply say to the Labor Party this: if you are so committed to penalty rates, protect them in law.’’

The Greens will today intensify their attack on Mr Shorten by ­releasing an 80-second video ­advertisement on penalty rates. It features a radio interview he gave last month in which he said he would accept the decision of the independent umpire even if it meant reducing penalty rates.

Fairfax Media last night reported that the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Electrical Trades Union were defying the Labor leader in backing the Greens policy to legislate to protect penalty rates.

AMWU national secretary Paul Bastian, when reportedly asked if penalty rates should be protected by legislation, told Fairfax: “Our view is that penalty rates should be protected by any means necessary. We won’t accept any cut to penalty rates. Penalty rates need to be secured, they need to be put beyond doubt.”

But South Australian Labor Senate candidate Don Farrell warned that the Greens proposal to legislate to protect penalty rates was misguided and would not lead to a stable and sustainable system over time for workers. Mr Farrell, a former Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Union secretary, said the “great risk” under the Greens’ plan was that it would make penalty rates contestable at every federal election and open the door to pay rates that fluctuated over time depending upon governments.

Greens industrial relations spokesman Adam Bandt denied that the move to legislate against the abolition of weekend penalty rates was an attempt to undermine the Fair Work Commission. “The Fair Work Commission … doesn’t have free reign to decide whatever it wants, it applies the laws of the land,” Mr Bandt said.

“The independent Fair Work Commission takes guidance from those laws. It’s up to parliament to decide what the community standard is and put that standard into laws.’’

He said weekend penalty rates could be protected in two ways: by altering the principles the commission had to apply, or by specifying existing rates and conditions were protected.

Additional reporting: Mark Coultan, Paige Taylor