The out-of-touch Albanese Labor Government risks credibility damage if they go against their own Industrial Reforms measures in the House of Representatives this week, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says.

Labor’s so-called Closing Loopholes Bill will return to the Lower House this week after Crossbench Senators voted with the Coalition to split Labor’s Closing Loopholes Bill to allow parts of the bill to pass to support first responders, family and domestic violence victims, deliver asbestos reforms and clarify small business insolvency measures.

“If Labor refuses to pass these split-off measures it exposes that the Prime Minister is listening solely to the union movement, not the Australian people. All this Bill is about is handing more power to the Albanese Government’s union paymasters,” Dr Webster said.

Meanwhile a survey released by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry found some companies believed they would have to downsize or close due to the negative impact of the changes Labor’s Bill would bring about.

“If the Bill passes unchanged, it will cost jobs all the way around Australia, including in Mallee,” Dr Webster said, “One local builder for example told me these radical changes are putting the brakes on the construction industry – and I quote:

‘What we need is a stable economy, not the roller coaster that we’re experiencing. The fact is, if you get a good worker you pay them more to keep them.  We don’t need government controlling everything.  Business can work it out themselves.’

“As with other radical changes this Government has put to the Australian public of late, these aren’t modest changes or little ‘loopholes’. They are snatching power and autonomy away from everyday Australians and handing them to the unrepresentative union movement.”

“The changes will cost employers up to $9 billion in extra wages over the next decade according to the Government’s own estimates – not every business can survive that,” Dr Webster said, “Minister Burke pigheadedly claims to protect workers and lift wages, but there will be no workers to protect or wages to lift if a company goes broke.”

The Bill also makes Labour Hire work unviable and restricts casual employees through what were originally called ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ measures but later re-branded. The Bill also targets trucking industry owner-operators.

“Owner/drivers won’t have the flexibility to set their rates – it is effectively a revival of the failed Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal,” Dr Webster said, “The Coalition and the Senate Crossbench have taken a constructive approach to Labor’s destructive Bill, splitting off the less contentious policy. Labor and the unions would rather run roughshod over Australian employers but the Australian public aren’t buying it.”