Huge day for working people Labor’s landmark industrial relations changes will become law
Labor’s landmark industrial relations changes will create a “pathway for wages to get moving again” once it become law.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked senator David Pocock for his negotiations on the bill, which helped it get over the line.
The move will ensure there is an annual review of JobSeeker, along with boost safeguards for small and medium businesses.
“We went through an election saying that we wanted to get wages moving again,” Albanese, said.
“We said that the low wages that we’ve seen over the previous decade wasn’t a result of bad luck.
“That was bad policy.
“The former government said that low wage growth was a design feature of their economic architecture.
“And they certainly delivered that low wages for year after year after year.
“This is a sensitive proposition and Labor has been prepared to sit down with business, with unions, with the crossbench, with civil society to work through the legislation to ensure that any improvements can be offered have been taken up.”
Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Tony Burke said the bill would ensure there was “a pathway to secure jobs and get wages moving”.
“We will be taking action to close the gender pay gap,” he said.
“We have legislation where every section of the bill is still there.
“There are amendments which improve it in various ways.
“But the bottom line is there will be a pathway now for wages to get moving again in Australia. It’ll be a deliberate design feature of how we manage things.”
Albanese also congratulated both Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and the Socceroos for their wins overnight.
He said the Victorian premier deserved “a great big pat on the back”.
