Labor's audacious bid to restore penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors by piggy-backing one of the Federal Government's own IR bills fell at the first hurdle today, when rebel Nationals MP George Christensen indicated he could not support legislation that failed to protect businesses from back-pay claims.
South Australia's Weatherill Labor Government will continue to push for national laws regulating labour hire, even though the state this week passed its own laws.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash faces another grilling in Senate Estimates hearings over the AFP's raids on the AWU at the behest of the Registered Organisations Commission.
The Turnbull Government has listed two contested IR Bills for the debate in the Senate next week, setting it at odds with union calls to hold back controversial legislation until the citizenship status of MPs is clarified.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said last night that she made an offer to the Opposition to split-off into a separate Bill elements of the "four-yearly review" legislation that enable the FWC to overlook technical and minor errors in agreements, after tribunal president Iain Ross twice wrote asking her to urgently secure its passage.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says one of her staffers has resigned after admitting he leaked information to the media about the AFP raids on the AWU yesterday.
The Fair Work Commission says its failure to meet timeliness targets for agreement approvals is partly due to the delay in passage of the Turnbull Government's legislation that would enable it to overlook minor or technical flaws in proposed deals.
