Tony Burke open to IR concessions to win over crossbench

The Albanese government has signalled it will make amendments to its industrial relations bill to win over key Senate crossbenchers.

CWorkplace Relations Minister Tony Burke. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Albanese government has signalled it will make amendments to its industrial relations bill to win over key Senate crossbenchers, as national builders scrapped plans for a Parliament House protest against the changes.

Confirmation of Labor’s willingness to make concessions to the crossbench comes ahead of a Senate inquiry report into the bill being tabled on Thursday and the government bringing the bill on for debate in federal parliament next week.

Sources close to negotiations said pushing back the July 1 operational date for the changes to casual employment and the gig economy by a few months to give stakeholders more time to adjust to the new laws was one option under consideration. Under the proposal, the changes would operate six months after the legislation receives royal assent, which would mean August if the Senate passes the bill in February.

Crossbench and union sources said the government had not put any major concessions on the table, and thus far had proposed only “minor tweaks” to the bill ahead of more intense negoti­ations in coming days.

ACT independent senator David Pocock on Tuesday said he was “continuing to work through the detail of the next tranche of legislation in close consultation with stakeholders”.

“I’m looking closely at the proposed changes around casuals, the definition of employment and how we regulate the gig economy for the first time in this country to ensure we get it right,” he said. “I’m also looking at what more can be done to make it safer for road transport, gig delivery drivers and other road users.”

Jacqui Lambie is awaiting the tabling of the Senate inquiry report and declined to comment.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said “technical amendments won’t cut it; only substantial change will minimise the worst aspects of the bill. We remain opposed to this legislation because of the significant economic impacts it will have on businesses and jobs; we have been raising concerns with the crossbench and we welcome moves to minimise the worst parts of the bill,” he said.

“In particular, we are very concerned that the proposed changes to casual employment will hurt workers, lead to less flexibility, fewer casual jobs and people not having access to the increased take-home pay that comes with casual work.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said “big business is always looking at ways to reduce costs, and it’s why they have been lobbying to stop much-needed protections for casual and gig workers”.

“Parliament has the power to give Australians better job security to help with the cost of living, this will immediately benefit casual, gig workers and truckies by passing the remaining parts of the Closing Loopholes Bill,” she said.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke clashed with Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn on Tuesday after she claimed the legal uncertainty that would be caused by the changes would “send the construction industry back 20 years”.

The MBA claims the new laws could force independent contractors and subcontractors to become an employee or spend unnecessary time and money in front of the Fair Work Commission to defend their right to own and run their business.

“We’ve spoken with thousands of tradies who overwhelmingly want to be their own boss and are strongly opposed to changes that threaten the right of self-employed tradies,” Ms Wawn said.

“If a builder engages an independent contractor that falls within the definition of employment they are opening themselves up to sham contracting or criminal wage theft penalties for unpaid leave or super.”

In response, Mr Burke said: “For two years Ms Wawn has worked in lockstep with the Liberal Party, with claims that providing workers with secure jobs and better pay would bring down the economy. The reality is the exact opposite: under our government more people are in work, they’re earning more and with our tax changes they will be keeping more of what they earn.”

In a Zoom address to MBA members, Ms Wawn said a protest rally against the bill would have been “great but unfortunately the logistics proved just too difficult”.