Fair Work push by employers

Business says extra Fair Work appointees needed to deal with a likely rise in Covid-related disputes.

Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash. Picture: Martin Ollman

Employers have urged the Morrison government to make further pre-election appointments to the Fair Work Commission to deal with an expected jump in Covid-related workplace disputes, as more companies seek to implement vaccine requirements in the new year.

Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash sparked fresh union claims the Coalition was stacking the commission when she announced on Saturday afternoon that two new deputy presidents had been appointed to the tribunal.

The new appointees are Theresa Moltoni, a former WorkPac chief executive and past president of the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Andrew Bell, a barrister who has worked in various roles at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Senator Cash said she was confident the duo would “execute their duties with impartiality and diligence”.

But acting ACTU secretary Liam O’Brien said the government’s decision to “sneak out the appointment of two new employer advocates on a Saturday afternoon the week before Christmas demonstrates the contempt that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government have for working people”.

“Scott Morrison had a choice with these appointments. He could have chosen to appoint advocates to the FWC who would stand up for working people. Instead, he once again chose to appoint advocates who will stand up for big business,” Mr O’Brien said.

“The appointment of the former CEO of labour hire operator WorkPac to the FWC proves yet again that Mr Morrison doesn’t have working people’s back on the cancer of insecure work which is plaguing this country, hurting working people and holding back the economy.”

Australian Mines and Metals Association chief executive Steve Knott praised Ms Moltoni and Mr Bell, saying the government had made a wise move to bolster the commission’s senior ranks ahead of an expected rise in Covid-related workplace disputes in 2022.

“The FWC is widely expected to deal with an escalating number of workplace disputes as more employers seek to implement vaccine requirements and other Covid-19 risk mitigation policies,” Mr Knott said.

“As the nation opens up and we learn to live with this virus, so too will businesses be reconsidering their policies and procedures to ensure, as far as practical, safe and virus-free workplaces.”

The government made five appointments to the commission last April, and, after the weekend announcement, the tribunal has 46 members, the same number when Labor was last in office in 2013.

But Mr Knott said given there would be three aged-based retirements in the first quarter of 2022, “there is a very strong argument that the Morrison government should make further appointments in the new year to ensure the FWC has the senior resources required to deal with the expected rise in caseload”.

“The national economy and the complex changes we are seeing in Australian workplaces are not going to stand still and wait for the federal election,” he said.

“AMMA strongly encourages the government to make further appointments in the new year, with additional funding provided in the March federal budget if necessary.”

Ms Moltoni was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2016 for services to industrial relations. Mr Bell has been a barrister at the Victorian Bar since 2010.