Actress who plays ACTU 'battler' boosts the big end of town

The face of the ACTU’s $2m-plus campaign against big business counts corporate giants and multinationals among her clients.

Actress Georgia Bolton features in the ACTU’s ‘Change the Rules’ ad campaign. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

The face of the ACTU’s $2 million-plus campaign against big business counts Australian corporate giants and multinationals among her clients, including Coles, the major banks, Rolls-Royce, Shell and IBM.

Actress Georgia Bolton stars in the ACTU’s biggest campaign in more than a decade, targeting big-business power, corporate profits and casualisation of the workforce.

“But mum, the company is making huge profits,” Bolton says in one of the ads. “And here I am being pushed into labour hire. They’re forcing me into casual work.”

Bolton has appeared in TV shows including Neighbours, Blue Heelers and Utopia. According to her LinkedIn page, she also works as a “facilitator, coach, actor and public speaker”, and has a double degree in psychology and media, and a Certificate IV in training and assessment in the workplace.

She lists dozens of corporate clients, including major consulting firms, blue-chip companies, superannuation funds, all four of Australia’s major banks, law firms, oil companies, carmakers, and government departments. Multinationals like Cadbury, Bayer and GSK have sought out her services, along with local big names such as Telstra, CUB, Fairfax Media and Australia Post.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the advertisements, launched last Sunday, “depict families grappling with the consequences of living in a country where big business has too much power and working people not enough”.

But Workplace Minister Craig Laundy said Bolton was living proof of the employment opportunities available thanks to Australian businesses.

“She’s out there contracting to big business, making a good living. And good luck to her,” Mr Laundy said. “Business operators, irrespective of size, are taking on bank debt, backing themselves and ­employing millions of Australians on a daily basis. That should be celebrated, not demonised.”

 

Mr Laundy said the ACTU campaign was misleading, because permanent employees could not by law be forced onto casual agreements. He said the proportion of Australians working as casuals had been steady for at least 20 years, at 25 per cent of the workforce. Use of labour hire was also steady at 2 per cent and independent contractors at 9 per cent.

Mr Laundy said if the character in the ACTU ads were not an actor, he would advise her to “reach out to the Fair Work Ombudsman”. “I believe she would likely have a case that the Fair Work Ombudsman would take up and argue on her behalf,” he said.

The ACTU said the campaign reflected the reality of modern working life. “The ACTU is proud to support working Australian actors dramatising the lived experience of millions of people,” a spokesman said.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson said the ACTU “perhaps needs to take a little more care when they’re planning campaigns”.

Ms McManus accused the government of using a “fake tradie” in 2016 election campaign ads, who later turned out to be a Sydney metalworker.

The campaign, funded by union members, will run on TV, radio and social media for eight weeks. Ms McManus declined to say how much it cost, but said it was worth “several millions”.

The Australian spoke to Bolton’s agents, Active Arts Management, but the actress declined to comment.