Extract from The Guardian
Treasurer says the former Newman government ‘turned back the clock 25
years with their draconian IR laws’, as bill passes state parliament
The former Newman government’s industrial relations changes have been reversed by Queensland’s parliament.
The Liberal National party’s crackdown had required the state’s industrial relations commission to consider the government’s fiscal strategy, which involved significant belt-tightening, in making determinations. It also curtailed the rights of unions to enter work sites and opened the door to the contracting out of government services.
All of the changes were scrapped in a bill which passed state parliament on Thursday evening.
The treasurer Curtis Pitt said the LNP had “turned back the clock 25 years with their draconian IR laws.”
“We treated it as a matter of urgency to undo the damage these laws inflicted on working Queenslanders,” he said. “We’ve returned their hard-fought rights and conditions, which will deliver real benefits for Queensland workers.”
The crackdown had created a climate of fear and uncertainty in the public service, Pitt said.
The shadow attorney general Ian Walker said the reversal illustrated Labor’s need to repay favours after the January election outcome, and was a win only for Queensland’s union bosses. The amendment, which allows senior bureaucrats to encourage union membership, would grant unions “unfettered access” to workplaces, he said.
“This has been described as a true Labor bill but it is nothing more than a real recruitment drive to increase union membership and bolster union coffers.”
The Liberal National party’s crackdown had required the state’s industrial relations commission to consider the government’s fiscal strategy, which involved significant belt-tightening, in making determinations. It also curtailed the rights of unions to enter work sites and opened the door to the contracting out of government services.
All of the changes were scrapped in a bill which passed state parliament on Thursday evening.
The treasurer Curtis Pitt said the LNP had “turned back the clock 25 years with their draconian IR laws.”
“We treated it as a matter of urgency to undo the damage these laws inflicted on working Queenslanders,” he said. “We’ve returned their hard-fought rights and conditions, which will deliver real benefits for Queensland workers.”
The crackdown had created a climate of fear and uncertainty in the public service, Pitt said.
The shadow attorney general Ian Walker said the reversal illustrated Labor’s need to repay favours after the January election outcome, and was a win only for Queensland’s union bosses. The amendment, which allows senior bureaucrats to encourage union membership, would grant unions “unfettered access” to workplaces, he said.
“This has been described as a true Labor bill but it is nothing more than a real recruitment drive to increase union membership and bolster union coffers.”
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