The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, derided it as a union talkfest, but the Albanese government achieved more than could reasonably have been expected from its jobs and skills summit. Yes, some of it was held over from national cabinet earlier this week (the extra Tafe places, for example). Some items were a long time coming and dictated by the circumstances of massive workforce shortages (permanent migration up to 195,000 and a $36m investment to speed up visa processing). One policy was even a tweak of an idea suggested by Dutton in June (the relaxation of tax rules to allow pensioners to work more).
But, add to that the massive list of industrial relations reforms outlined by Tony Burke on Thursday intended to get wages moving again (and increase workers’ power) and Labor can rightly say the summit was a success.
Anthony Albanese and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, concluded the summit on Friday afternoon by announcing 36 “concrete actions” the government would aim to implement this year.
The event was stage-managed within an inch of its life, yes, but a diversity of views were aired.
Employer groups Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry got their chance to push back at unions’ ambitious calls for multi-employer bargaining.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, could say he was “genuinely here to be constructive”, drawing an implicit contrast with the opposition leader and, possibly, also his predecessor, Barnaby Joyce.
Dutton will be hoping Australians weren’t paying any attention because it’s hard to portray an event with the Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, the Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, and every single state and territory leader as only about the unions.
It is true the unions got more of what they wanted than other stakeholders. But that wasn’t gifted, it was earned through weeks of successful negotiations stitching up deals before the two-day Canberra summit.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions struck deals with the Tech Council of Australia on skills, with the Council of Small Business Organisations on opt-in multi-employer bargaining and with the Business Council of Australia on the full employment objective and other policies.
Unions gave a little too, agreeing to changes to the better-off-overall test for registering workplace pay deals.
Some business groups might get heartburn thinking about a bill this year to allow multi-employer bargaining, but they got what they needed (workers) if not everything they wanted.
On Friday, Dutton insisted he felt “completely vindicated” by his decision to sit this one out. Time will tell how that decision plays out.
On the one hand, the union-bashing rhetoric might shore up support among small businesses that view them with scepticism or fear. If industrial action soars after workplace relations changes, that might give Dutton a line of attack.
On the flip side, it tends to cement the view of a leader prepared to oppose the government on everything, even if it means ignoring the lessons of the 2022 election, such as climate change, or responding to their material concerns, like stagnant wages.
Tony Abbott showed the “bring back the biff” style of opposition leader can win – but he had a broken promise on carbon pricing and Labor division to grab hold of.
However ambitious its IR reforms, Labor has broken no promises – the product of an election campaign rich in gotcha questions but poor on the specifics of policy. Getting wages moving again would be a huge achievement. If it can be done.
In one respect, however, the summit fell short. It was long on rhetoric about boosting women’s participation in the workforce, which the Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood memorably likened to iron ore left in the ground.
But after Labor spent an election campaign arguing its $5bn childcare policy was an investment not spending, it is galling to see the party draw the line at bringing it forward by six months to January 2023, citing the cost. Jobseeker also got short shrift.
The government hasn’t yet ruled out extending paid parental leave, another ACTU-BCA request, which could be rectified in the October budget.
Mostly, though, the Albanese government capitalised on the palpable sense of relief after the election.
More than any particular policy, its victory at the summit was the sense that the adults are back in charge. There’s an understanding that not everyone has to agree on everything in order to work together and an awareness that policymaking is about finding solutions rather than picking fights.
