Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie would be handed powers to terminate protected industrial action under the Queensland government’s long-awaited overhaul of workplace laws.
The government is also set to hold a parliamentary inquiry into Labor’s 2022 efforts to scuttle the role of LNP-linked “red unions” in the state, and review its union encouragement policy.
Unions have said they will take time to consider the proposed changes, but warned the workers’ compensation scheme amendments would make it harder for frontline staff to get support.
Bleijie’s update came as he announced the Crisafulli LNP’s response to a review of industrial relations law and the workers’ compensation scheme, both tabled in parliament on Wednesday.
The review, conducted by former Bleijie-appointed WorkCover chair Glenn Ferguson and Industrial Relations Commissioner Gary Black, made 104 recommendations, Bleijie told parliament.
Seventy-five recommendations have been accepted in full, while 14 were accepted in principle, six were noted, and nine were rejected, he said. A bill will be introduced on Wednesday night to action the LNP response.
“These reforms, accepted by the government for implementation, will begin to shift the balance back in Queenslanders’ favour, bringing us into line with other jurisdictions – including the national government with the Fair Work Act – while protecting important rights and entitlements for Queensland workers,” Bleijie said.
In his speech to parliament on Wednesday afternoon, he said the changes would save small business $1.46 billion annually by preventing workers’ compensation scheme premiums from increasing.
He said more details on the bill would be forthcoming with its full introduction, but he expected pushback and misleading claims from the Labor opposition and union movement, which has previously accused Bleijie of a “blind agenda of ideology”.
“Queenslanders are used to these Labor scare campaigns, which have been proven time and time again to be false,” Bleijie said. “I want to be clear about what we’re not doing: we are not accepting all recommendations made by the independent review. In doing so, the government is protecting a number of key entitlements for workers.”
Elements that would feature in the bill, he said, included:
- A fit and proper person test for union officials seeking right of entry powers on worksites.
- More “freedom” around who can represent workers in industrial disputes and wage negotiations.
- Increased maximum penalties for WorkCover fraud.
- A regulator-appointed representative who reasonably believes fraud has occurred would be given powers to suspend lump-sum compensation while it is investigated.
- Requiring employment to be the major significant contributing factor in a psychological injury claim.
The government response document provided further detail about the accepted recommendations.
These included a review of the state’s union encouragement policy, which lays out a proactive approach to allowing workers to organise, and a parliamentary committee probe of the amendments of the former Labor government, and how industrial law treats incorporated entities such as those under the Red Union banner.
“We look forward to submissions during the parliamentary committee process with respect to freedom of association, because the Liberal Party is the party of freedom,” Bleijie said.
The government has also accepted a recommendation to hand Bleijie, as industrial relations minister, similar powers to those of his federal counterpart to terminate protected industrial action.
Such a move would only be open to Bleijie if he was satisfied the action was threatening or would threaten to endanger the life, safety, health or welfare of part of the population, cause damage to the state economy, or “would otherwise be contrary to the public interest”.
Announcing the work earlier this year, including the required five-yearly review into the workers’ compensation scheme, the Crisafulli government cited an increase in psychological injury claims.
The party had taken only a limited number of industrial relations policies to the election. Unions had claimed the review would be used to wind back protections for workers.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King said requiring work to be the major contributing factor for a psychological injury claim “risks shutting workers out of compensation and access to the support they need”.
King said the broader sweep of recommendations “needed to be considered in totality by the QCU, unions and other stakeholders”.
Civil Contractors Federation Queensland chief executive Damian Long said the reforms would provide a boost to the infrastructure sector in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics.
“Aligning Queensland’s industrial relations laws with national standards and strengthening expectations around lawful conduct will provide greater confidence and certainty for businesses delivering the infrastructure projects our state relies on,” Long said.
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