Features Consulting Matters
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Together, these tests ensure employees can enjoy rewarding workplace conditions without perpetuating the unsustainable workforce agreements discouraging investment in Australia’s mining, oil and gas industry. investment, with a study commissioned by AMMA to RMIT revealing that one in five new resource projects were delayed as the result of unfair union tactics in negotiating new workforce agreements, or refusing to negotiate at all. The threat of industrial action in Australia is a risk exceeded only by growing labour costs, which are now 20-30 per cent higher than those in the United States. Likewise, the construction of an LNG project in our closest economic neighbour Canada is 20-30 per cent less than in Australia. Making outdated and unsustainable wages the benchmark on new projects with a ‘prevailing industry standards’ test serves only to deter new capital investment even further. However it is not all ‘doom and gloom’ for our industry.
If we can develop a sustainable and competitive policy framework—starting in key areas such a new project agreement making—our nation can still secure the $208 billion worth of new project investment currently slated, but not yet committed for our shores. So how do we develop a more realistic and sustainable approach to greenfield agreement making? The key principle here is to allow market realities to inform employment conditions in place of artificially inflated industry rates. Current expectations for new project agreements adhere to the National Employment Standards safety net, the Better Off Overall test and the public interest test, a triad of protection for both Australian workers and their employers.
Together, these tests ensure employees can enjoy rewarding workplace conditions without perpetuating the unsustainable workforce agreements discouraging investment in Australia’s mining, oil and gas industry. Budget policy and our employment laws not only impact employment and projects for the national resource industry, it affects all Australians and their job opportunities. These challenges are now pressing and we cannot miss the opportunity to take action as part of accelerating the course back to a budget surplus. Working closely with the federal government now and into the future, AMMA is committed to seeing this opportunity brought to fruition. AMMA is Australia’s national resource industry employer group, a unified voice driving effective workforce outcomes.