Eric Abetz draws fire for first, and last, Fair Work picks

Eric Abetz has hand-picked three industrial relations umpires — his first permanent fulltime appointments to the Fair Work Commission.

Employment Minister Abetz yesterday made three fulltime appointments to the Fair Work Commission. Picture: Kym Smith

Eric Abetz has hand-picked three industrial relations umpires — his first permanent full-time appointments to the Fair Work Commission on what could be his last day as employment minister.

Filling spots that have been vacant since last year, Mr Abetz yesterday elevated former Kroger & Kroger lawyer Tanya Cirkovic and Newcastle barrister and employment law specialist Tony Saunders to the commission.

He also appointed Christopher Platt, a former general manager of workplace relations policy at the Australian Mines and Metals Association, praising their “wealth of experience”.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Cirkovic worked at employment law firm Kroger & Kroger in Melbourne and took over the firm as Tanya Cirkovic & Associates when its founder, Victorian Liberal Party veteran Michael Kroger, left the law in 1993.

Mr Abetz also promoted to the position of deputy president Geoffrey Bull, a former officer of AMMA who was appointed to the commission by Bill Shorten in 2012 when he was workplace relations minister.

AMMA chief executive Steve Knott praised the “high-calibre” appointments.

Labor’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor branded the choices “ideolo­gical” and “opportunistic” and said “it’s disturbing to see such a partisan decision”.

“In what may very well be his last act as Employment Minister, Eric Abetz has opportunistically rushed through a number of ideological appointments and a promotion to the Fair Work Commission,” Mr O’Connor said.

The Productivity Commission, in a draft report on its workplace relations inquiry, recommended last month that a panel, not the minister, appoint Fair Work Commissioners for limited terms.

In Sydney hearings yesterday, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry told the Productivity Commission’s inquiry the industrial relations system was too “adversarial” and “complex”.

“This detracts from the reality that the system’s stakeholders share aims that underpin national prosperity and living standards,” said ACCI director of workplace relations Richard Clancy.

The report “could have gone further”, he added, but said the chamber endorsed some of the commission’s biggest recommendations including “strong support” for aligning Saturday and Sunday penalty rates for cafes, hospitality, entertainment, restaurants and retailing.

The chief executive of employer group Restaurant & Catering Australia, John Hart, emphasised the “community belief … that working on Sunday was no more inconvenient than Saturday”.

Jo Schofield, the national secretary of the hospitality workers union United Voice, called for the proposal to overhaul penalty rates to be dropped.

“Employers … have provided no credible evidence of the link between cutting pay to increase employment,’’ she said.