ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar and ACTU President Michele O’Neil debate industrial relations at the National Press Club. Photo: Michelle Kroll
The bosses of opposing industrial relations groups went head-to-head at the National Press Club on Wednesday (19 March) and agreed on very little, except for there being an unacceptable level of thuggery in the construction industry.
Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil and chief executive officer of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrew McKellar opened the press club’s series of election issue debates in a well-run format moderated by Greg Jennett, one of the club’s directors.
The debate allowed the ACTU boss to declare the big issue was better wages for workers, while the ACCI CEO outlined how too many small businesses across Australia are suffering from too much red tape.
Ms O’Neil said Labor must be allowed to ensure improvements have been implemented and that they have time to come into full effect and not be undone.
“They need to have more time to make sure that we see those improvements continue,” Ms O’Neil said.
“Our view is that wages need to be real wage growth. We need to keep in front of inflation.
“It is good to see that inflation is coming down, but … there is still more to do.
“You would hope that we see sustainable real wage growth that does make a difference to people, but it is impossible to say how long that period will be for.”
The ACTU president said workers’ wages and wage growth will be key issues of the imminent federal election campaign.
“Many factors influence whether working people get their wage increases,” she said.
“History tells us it is driven by workers and unions exercising collective power.
“The relative bargaining power of workers and employers is undoubtedly a big driver.
“The policy set by government that affects this power balance makes a big difference.”
Mr McKellar said while effective workplace relations are a critical part of ACCI’s overall strategy, it is only one piece of “a much larger picture”.
The ACCI boss said that to achieve true economic prosperity, a broader strategy is needed to drive productivity and strengthen global competitiveness.
Cutting red tape, he said, would play a big role in achieving those goals.
“The bigger issue here is the impact of compliance and regulation,” he said.
“That is an imposition across the spectrum for business and, in particular, for small businesses.
“There are 2.5 million small businesses operating in Australia. Most businesses in the country are small businesses, and they are the lifeblood of our economy. Yet, at the moment, they are being strangled.”
Asked by the moderator about the undoing in the United States of diversity and equity initiatives in the workplace since the election of Donald Trump, Mr McKellar suggested setting such targets and quotas to achieve outcomes wasn’t a good idea to begin with.
“We have to be very careful about getting into a regime where you are regulating for particular outcomes, setting particular thresholds or targets or quotas,” he said.
“I think that would be an adverse thing, and that would bring a counter-reaction, and potentially some of what we’re in the United States.
“But I do not think this is something that should be exported to Australia.”
Ms O’Neil jumped in on the US theme, saying she didn’t want to see “some of the worst of Donald Trump’s policies imported into this country”, but she said the Coalition looked keen on copying some of them.
“We do not see America as the sort of country we want Australia to be,” she said.
She used Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to force public servants back to the office five days a week as an example.
“A direct copy of one of the things Donald Trump announced on his first day,’ Ms O’Neil said.
“I would hope that we are proud of the measures that we put in place in this country and make sure that our workplaces reflect who we are and every part of who lives here.”
On the subject of the building industry, Mr McKellar agreed with the Coalition’s call for a federal police taskforce to investigate allegations of corruption and crime made against the CFMEU.
Ms O’Neil said violent perpetrators on building sites should be jailed, but she added that corruption in the construction industry was an issue involving the whole sector and not just the union.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Riotact.
