Master Builders Australia’s Denita Wawn slams employer rivals

Master Builders Australia has quit the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry following a dispute about the chamber’s lobbying focus.

MBA chief executive Denita Wawn says the Minerals Council spent $25m on TV ads that ‘didn’t really say anything’.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn has ­attacked rival employer groups for going “missing in action” during key policy debates, amid revelations the MBA quit the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry following a dispute about the chamber’s lobbying focus.

Declaring that employer groups needed to back the Coalition in the same way that ­unions back the Labor Party, Ms Wawn said it was galling to see industry associations “raise the white flag” over Labor’s workplace changes and “then brazenly call on a Coalition government to fix that very bad policy they’ve created for themselves and did nothing to stop when they had the chance.”

The Australian can reveal that the MBA resigned from the ACCI because it did not believe the chamber campaigned hard enough against changes to independent contractors laws proposed in the Albanese govern­ment’s Closing Loopholes Bill.

Sources said the MBA believed the ACCI shifted focus to proposed gig economy changes on behalf of digital platform members including Uber at the expense of the MBA’s concerns about independent contractor changes.

However, rival employer sources rejected the claims, insisting the ACCI had supported the MBA’s stand on independent contractors while being part of a united group of employer organ­isa­tions that opposed the Closing Loopholes legislation.

The MBA quit the ACCI and joined rival small business body the Council of Small Business ­Organisations Australia.

In a robust address to the HR Nicholls Society conference, Ms Wawn also criticised the effectiveness of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign run by the Minerals Council of Australia, contrasting it with the MBA’s campaign against the independent contractor changes.

“I think MCA spent about $25m on their TV ads that I thought didn’t really say anything. Ours cost us about $200,000,” she said.

Without identifying specific groups subject to her criticism, Ms Wawn said there was an increasing tendency for industry associations to forget their role and stay silent as they appeared almost embarrassed or reluctant to advance a position in the interests of their members.

She said industry groups were missing in action during the Closing Loopholes Bill debate and did not speak out about changes to independent contractors.

She said Coalition governments were always hesitant to make significant reform because they knew it was going to have an adverse impact for them in an election, so it was the job of industry groups to build the case for industrial relations reform.

“We cannot criticise the Coalition for not being willing or bold or adventurous on the issue of workplace reform if they are not solidly backed by industry associations,” she said. “We need to back the Coalition the same way unions back the Labor Party. Therefore, it’s our job to do the heavy lifting for workplace reform.”

She said organised labour was relentless in “pushing for more and more and more”, in contrast to industry groups. “I’m always disappointed when I see business associations fall for that old age trap of where they adopt a stance that says, well, we accept it’s going to happen, so let’s just tinker around the edges,” she said. “Do not support that approach at all …. your chance to block bad policy is gone. Bad policy becomes inevitable, and then you’ve lost the debate or even surrendered before the debate has begun.”

She said when it came to Coalition governments and workplace reform, no matter how minor the change or inconsequential it was, unions would be united in their complete opposition.

“So, why don’t we as industry associations do likewise? You will never see organised labour saying to a Coalition government, OK, we don’t accept your policy but here are some suggestions to tinker with it. They never do that because they realise the folly of such an approach.”

Ms Wawn said the Coalition was generally “friendly” with industry groups but employers should not rely on friendly governments to do the heavy lifting.

“We cannot criticise the Coalition for not being willing or bold or adventurous on the issue of workplace reform if they are not solidly backed by industry associations. We need to back the Coalition the same way unions back the Labor Party.”