State ministers back a ban on the manufactured stone commonly used in kitchen benchtops which has been shown to cause serious disease and death in tradies using it.
State and territory ministers will discuss banning the import of engineered stone next week as unions say it must happen as soon as possible.
While the opposition claimed the government dropped the ball on security,the crossbench questioned why they weren’t given more time to debate the renewal of Nauru as an offshore detention location.
Maurice Blackburn’s Josh Bornstein,who bowed out of a Senate tilt for Labor ahead of last year’s federal election,on Thursday tweeted “Excessive work hours and demands is a growing issue”.
In its budget submission,the United Workers Union said better pay was key to meeting the increase in demand expected in July.
Despite hints that it might,Labor’s new National Cultural Policy does not back a minimum basic income for performers.
New rules for companies such as Netflix,an injection in funding for the arts and a focus on workers’ rights form part of the federal government’s new arts policy.
Companies will face the threat of government funding being pulled unless they meet minimum standards and provide a safe workplace.
For the first time,authors will be compensated for ebooks and audiobooks loaned out by public libraries under expanded funding in the May budget.
Months out from the federal budget,some of our biggest galleries and organisations say they are “very much at crunch point”.
The call comes as Australia’s union membership has tumbled to a historic low of 12.5 per cent after almost 50 years of decline.