Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry has criticised the decision today to pass the Federal Labor Government’s new Industrial Relations Laws through Parliament.
Under the new laws, small business with more than 20 employees will be dragged onto multi-employer agreements with their much larger competitors. Small businesses can be forced to bargain against their will as part of the supported bargaining scheme.
“The Prime Minister was desperate to push the bill through before Christmas, and he got exactly what he wanted.
“For small business, the new industrial relations laws will be devasting, they are complex and extreme and are going to hurt our economy. These amendments were not taken to the election, and these changes will result in more strikes, put pressure on supply chains and could see an increase in the prices of everyday items,” Ms Landry said.
Ms Landry said internal government modelling reveals the true cost of these changes on small businesses in Australia.
“The Government’s own modelling shows that small and medium businesses will have to pay between $14,000 and $80,000 in bargaining costs because of these changes.
“At the Jobs Summit earlier this year, businesses were told that any legislation changes would not be made until well into next year and that there would be consultation.
“The Federal Labor Government doesn’t understand the fundamentals of running a small business. The driver of these amendments is to insert unions into small business, so its damaging for small business, but a win for the unions.”
Ms Landry said the Federal Labor Government will be judged on the standard they have set for themselves.
“The Government has said this legislation is all about increasing wages – this will be the test.
“If we do not see a substantial increase in real wages, lower unemployment and high productivity over the coming years, these changes will have failed,” Ms Landry said.
