Major employer groups have ramped up their calls for the Federal Government to dump or delay its controversial industrial relations changes, saying recent concessions do not go far enough. But the broader business groups believe the changes are not properly detailed and do not allay other fears about the laws.
More than half said they would stop hiring casuals if the changes came into effect, while 36 per cent said they would shed staff. Stagnating productivity is a serious threat to Australia’s economic prosperity. Australia can not afford to sit back and expect the riches to flow. Our politicians need to get the policy settings right to encourage investment, not dampen it. Because a prosperous Australian economy will make things better — and fairer — for all.
The Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA (PGA) Awards dinner, at Crown Botanicals last week, was a chance to glam up and reflect on a successful day of speakers and interaction at the annual PGA Convention held earlier in the day. The 2023 PGA Rural Achievement Award, for service to the agricultural industry, rural and regional Western Australia and the PGA was announced by PGA president Tony Seabrook. The winner was Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of both Hancock Prospecting and Hancock Agriculture, with the award accepted on her behalf by Hancock Agriculture CEO, Adam Giles.
But Mr Veldsman said that, under the Bill, there was no guarantee those different categories of driver would continue to be paid about the same. “We’re talking about draft legislation where the ‘full rate of pay’ is so unclear, so undefined, so broad and so open to speculation that we can’t say in future if this Bill is to actually pass that we can still do that,” he said. Mr Veldsman added a number of Hancock’s projects had already stalled due to red tape. Another major concern is a proposal to give casual workers the right to ask to convert to permanent employment after six months of regular hours.
The Great Western Hotel does feel like the bush. A pub with a rodeo and bullring dust just a short walk from the bar. Bush Summits were held all over the country, organised by News Limited papers, broadcast on Sky News and sponsored by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. They were great events that did much to highlight the major concerns of the bush to a city audience. The Great Western Hotel in Rockhampton was the perfect location for Queensland’s Bush Summit. The major topic of discussion was the growing impact of renewable energy on agricultural land and our environment in Central Queensland.
My father throughout his whole life was a huge lover of the bush and of our country, and made himself unpopular at times, standing up for what he could see was in the nation’s best interests. On our long drives together in the bush to check windmills and cattle – I was the gate opener and tool carrier – Dad would sometimes tell me jokes. One he especially liked was told by Dr Edward Teller – scientists who knew both Teller and Einstein said that Teller had the greater mind.
“Age-old problem needs future-proofing” is missing an important component in the worker shortage debate, the harsh treatment by the Federal Government of aged Australians and other pensioners who would otherwise like to continue working.Let’s look after our own better and remove the incomes test. Allow those pensioners who would like to, including veterans, contribute to the prosperity of us all. This initiative will assist with the current housing crisis and cost-of-living issues as well. | Dean Nalder
I listened intently to them as well as to Gina Rinehart who gave her views on what governments need to do to ensure we continue to enjoy the lifestyle we have grown accustomed to. My personal view is our governments need to listen to the Rinehart has to say. We need successful business leaders and philanthropists with common sense and a love of our country more than ever to give advice to our leaders.
Gina Rinehart has offered a scathing assessment of the costs involved with achieving net zero at a regional summit, warning of the dire consequences for the agriculture industry. Ms Rinehart took aim at the handouts for “climate research and government advisers”, highlighting the angst she sees in the agriculture industry. “The type who have never successfully run a farm, a station, or other agriculture businesses,” she told the regional Queensland crowd. “I think we are also not looking at the costs involved with the agriculture industry.”
While business leaders and policymakers were converging in Perth on Monday for The Australian’s inaugural Bush Summit, more than 2000km away, in the state’s remote Kimberley region, pastoralist Chris Towne and a group of workers were battling to contain a massive fire sweeping across the plains of Gogo Station. Once again, the task of dealing with the blaze had fallen to Towne and his employees. And once again, there had not been any action taken against those suspected of starting the fires“If this was bushland outside Perth it would be front page news.” Towne’s experience in many ways encapsulates the sentiment expressed by many at the Bush Summit: that Western Australia’s regions feel forgotten and ignored.
