FWC President Iain Ross has this afternoon flatly rejected a suggestion that his involvement in superannuation funds "25 years ago" means he has a conflict of interest in sitting on the expert panel's review of default funds.
The construction watchdog's review of "cold cases" has identified another 14 cases where penalties were agreed through negotiation or discontinued, a Senate Estimates hearing has been told. Meanwhile, the Fair Work Ombudsman has rejected suggestions that it "washes its hands" of 457 visa complaints.
Former Prime Minister John Howard says that of the five big economic reforms Australian governments has implemented over the last 30 years, industrial relations is the only one that has gone backwards.
There is "no substance" to the claims of inconsistent FWC decision-making that have underpinned calls for an independent appeal mechanism, according to the tribunal's president, Justice Iain Ross.
The Abbott Government has rejected Labor claims that it has already decided to proceed with the Commission of Audit's recommendation to axe the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency.
The Abbott Government will introduce a four-year pause on increases to the superannuation guarantee from July 1, as it seeks to "provide business with certainty" over SG rises.
Former TWU national president and WA branch secretary Jim McGiveron has dismissed as "a complete fantasy" a claim by former AWU WA branch leader Ralph Blewitt that he was given $5000 cash in a brown paper bag to help win control of the transport union's state branch two decades ago.
The ACTU has called for the Heydon Royal Commission to investigate all political slush funds, after the revelations of NSW Liberal Party donations that have emerged from the state's Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Advocating a much more severe cut to the Coalition's paid parental leave scheme than Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on Tuesday, the National Audit Commission has recommended the government cap payments at average weekly earnings and plough the resulting savings into child care assistance.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has conceded that savings "won't be vast" from cutting the maximum payment under its paid parental leave scheme to $50,000, while the Greens are pushing for the new regime to be fully-funded by the Coalition's proposed levy on business.
