Honeymoon is over, Labor. Never gonna be that way again

THE fallout from the federal budget saw the lights go out on Labor’s honeymoon. Labor promised energy prices would go down but instead they’re going up. They promised wages would go up but instead they’re going down.

And the cost of living relief was totally missing in action. The budget was so maligned Labor punted their industrial relations bill into Parliament after just two days to switch the conversation.

Notice the Treasurer didn’t spend a week selling the budget? Nope, he is off centre stage and licking his sore paw in the corner. That said, the industrial relations distraction hasn’t proved as politically fruitful as Labor may have hoped.

Rather, they have lurched from one political crisis to another. The bill was introduced into parliament by Minister Tony Burke already foreshadowing amendment. Imagine being so desperate to distract from the budget that you pony up a bill which you know is half-baked.

The ironically named ‘Secure Jobs, Better Pay’ bill proposes all manner of nonsensical industrial relations processes which empowers unions but stifles employers, employees and wage growth.

It has as good a chance of securing jobs and improving pay as the Inflation Reduction Act in the USA has of reducing inflation. That is, precisely no chance.

The bill proposes, for example, that employers cannot put a proposed agreement to a vote of employees without permission from a union official. Worse still, once there is an agreement in place, the Fair Work Commission can amend it without any obligation to consult and without any mechanism for employees or employers to contest the amendment.

Additionally, a business can be compelled to join agreement negotiations with competitors and the Fair Work Commission can even impose a competitor’s enterprise agreement on them.

The bill essentially proposes making a historically non-mandatory bargaining process mandatory as it will force employers to accept an agreement against their will and removes their ability to remain on the industry award and pay over the award rate if they so choose.

It’s a union’s dream come true. And that’s where it ends.

For everyone else, it’s a nightmare. In fact, it’s Workchoices for the unions without any of the good bits.

And despite parading this bill into the Parliament like baby Simba in the Lion King, Labor is now desperately offering concessions to the senate crossbench to drag it over the line this sitting year.

If it is passed, chances are it will be a rushed compromise that no one is really happy with. And those directly affected will be even less happy once they realise hostage negotiations won’t produce Labor’s much promised wage growth.

It has quickly crystallised that those who lauded themselves as our saviours before the election have turned out to be a coterie of paddlers.

And it’s a comedy of errors to file under overpromise and underdeliver.