Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has previously said he is prepared to compromise to get the IR bill through.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
But critics,including crossbenchers who are key to the bill’s fate,argued the change to the “better off overall test” (BOOT),a key safeguard in Australia’s workplace system,would have let unscrupulous bosses ram through enterprise agreements that lowered pay.
On Tuesday,when the bill was scheduled for debate in Parliament,a government party room meeting decided not to proceed with that aspect of the bill.
The abandonment of the measure shifts the spotlight to other aspects of the bill,which still includes modifications to the enterprise agreement approval process.
Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter said the changes to a “modest” part of the bill,which will now be up for formal debate later in the week,were a compromise with the crossbench to help get the broader package through Parliament.
“It does also have another upside,which is that it removes the smokescreen that Labor have created as to why it might be that Labor would notsupport tougher penalties to stamp out wage theft,” Mr Porter said in question time.
Those penalties,along withincreased rights for casuals doing regular,predictable shifts over six months to be offered permanent positions,are in the bill.