Crossbenchers Rex Patrick and Malcolm Roberts push for more changes to Fair Work Act

Senate crossbenchers will demand more changes to the Coalition’s bill.

Rex Patrick is pressing for changes to casual employment provisions. Picture: Gary Ramage

Senate crossbenchers will demand more changes to the ­Coalition’s industrial relations bill, saying the government’s decision to dump a plan allowing more substandard workplace agreements was not enough to convince them to vote for the proposed laws.

Employers said they hoped the dropping of proposed changes to the Fair Work Act’s better off overall test would clear the way for the bill to be passed, but crossbenchers said more concessions were needed before they would consider backing the bill when it is likely voted on next month.

With Labor and the Greens steadfast in their opposition to the bill, the government requires the support of at least three of five crossbenchers to get the changes through the Senate.

One Nation, with two votes, and crossbencher Rex Patrick are pressing for changes to casual employment provisions, saying bosses will be given too much power to reject requests by casuals for permanent employment.

Declaring there was a “lot of work that needs to be done” on the bill, One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts said the government must also agree to a review of the changes after 12 months.

Senator Patrick said there were “still many issues with the bill that need to be resolved” before he could support it.

He said the government needed to show it had the backing of two other crossbenchers before he would resume discussions over the changes.

Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie said “good on the government for listening to the crossbench, even if they’ve had to suffer a BOOT up the backside to get here”. “Workers shouldn’t be put at risk of suddenly being paid less than they’re entitled to,” Senator Lambie said.

“We’ve got people out there in insecure work, casual work, gig economy jobs, with no safety net. Even with the BOOT off the table, I’m looking at other measures in the bill. It’s not all bad, but it’s not all crash hot. Might be more to boot off the table yet.”

Crossbencher Stirling Griff said the dropping of the BOOT change was a “positive step but there were other aspects of the bill, including casual employment and agreement making provisions, that remained areas of concern.

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter said the decision to drop the “modest” proposal to give COVID-impacted employers more ability to bypass the BOOT showed the government’s willingness to work constructively with the crossbench.

Malcolm Roberts says the government must agree to a review of the changes after 12 months. Picture: AAP

He said the move “blew away the smokescreen” Labor was using to justify its opposition to the entire bill. “While we continue to believe this was a sensible and proportionate proposal in light of the current challenges our economy is facing, we also understand this measure had the potential to distract from other elements of the package which will help employers and employees recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.

“It’s now time for Anthony Albanese to get on board with the government and put the interests of Australians ahead of his own political games and ambition.”

Labor’s industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said the government had backed off the “unfair change” only because they could not get it through the Senate. “But now we know what they want to do,” he said. “They want to cut workers’ take-home pay and if they get another chance, they’ll try again.”

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the backdown was “important but not enough” as the rest of the bill would leave workers with less secure jobs and cut pay and conditions.

She said the changes that remained in the bill would remove requirements for employers to properly explain new agreements. They would also strip the Fair Work Commission of its power to properly examine whether workers were better off, with its role reduced to “tick and flick” with unreasonably short time limits.

“Bargaining is how wages improve, and these changes will leave workers worse off and with fewer rights. We will continue to discuss the effect this bill will have on the lives of working people and on the economic recovery from the pandemic recession with the crossbench and why it should be opposed,” she said.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s workplace relations director Scott Barklamb said the dropping of the BOOT changes was disappointing for businesses and jobs, “particularly in light of the ongoing damage to Victorian businesses suffering through a third lockdown”.

“The changes would have genuinely helped employers in overwhelming distress by allowing them to temporarily renegotiate agreements with their employees to try and stay in business and continue to employ, an option they will sadly no longer have,” he said.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the decision to drop the BOOT changes should “clear the way” for the crossbench to back the “modest but important changes to the Fair Work Act”.

“Not surprisingly, the unions have dusted off the same old scare campaign they always run whenever any balanced and moderate IR changes are proposed. It is important that the community’s interests prevail over vested interests and the bill is passed without delay,” he said.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the remaining changes would reinvigorate the enterprise bargaining system.