It has long been a core objective of the Labour Movement that there should be a reality of; "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work." This has not been the case in Australia in recent times, with workers being exploited through the gig economy, casual employment and labour hire systems. For years the Coalition government allowed these unfair exploitative work practices to exists, and did nothing, now the Albanese Labor government is moving with new legislation to remove these blatantly exploitative practices. These new laws introduced to Parliament on Monday by Workplace relations minister, Tony Burke will go someway towards removing the loopholes which has allowed some employers to rip pay and conditions off workers in the past. Showing their true colours the Coalition are opposing these reasonable changes, but with Greens and cross bench support they are expected to pass in the Senate.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/04/australian-government-to-close-labour-hire-loophole-to-help-67000-workers-being-ripped-off-by-employers

When I working in New York City, my employer pressured me to sign a contract as an independent contractor. I was not in fact an independent contractor but an employee keeping regular hours. The advantage to the employer of getting me to sign such a contract was that he would not have pay to the government funds to provide a safety net for me such as unemployment insurance. If the proposed legislation passes, I predict there will be an increase in the number of independent contractors.

It is a bit hard to sustain your argument Paul, when we have some of, & in many areas of industry, the highest pay rates in the world. You do need to be careful or the labor movement will kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

The unions did it with the car industry, $100,000 for semi skilled process workers can not be paid & have an industry survive.

Anny has done the same grab for excess charges with the mining industry in Queensland. Pay rates for workers have long been very high in that industry, to the advantage of many, but putting the royalty charge up by 500% is not only endangering those jobs, but virtually ensuring such jobs will dry up over time. A government can't just increase charges way beyond the norm internationally to cover bad management of state finances, without strangling the industry involved.

I don't know how we got to the stage when a fair days pay, for both members of a couple was not enough to live well, but that is something that must be laid at the foot of government. Albo is definitely not the man to fix this.

Albanese is a silly little man, with a chip on his shoulder. He is going to prove more damaging than Whitlam & Gillard combined, being driven more by malice than ideology. Many hard working folk are going to suffer from his stupidity through no fault of their own. Hang on to your hat, it is going to get very bumpy very soon.

"Albanese is a silly little man, with a chip on his shoulder."

Very true, Hasbeen: he is wreaking revenge for his single-mother, houso upbringing.

The problem with with all this union/labour nonsense is that people who actually do know what they are talking about have said, in the last couple of days, that the days of low unemployment are coming to an end - thanks to Albanese's mass immigration. More and more people are beginning to line up for the one job; just like the increases in hopeful tenants lining up for limited properties - again caused by the stupid, incompetent Albanese.

Albanese and his commo unions can try to pull these stunts, but there won't be any jobs.

You have to wonder if Albanese has anything except mince inside his head. Making electricity unaffordable. Driving away investment. Sending work overseas. Bringing uneccessary people here. Now ripping off the employers still struggling to survive and provide jobs.

Dear Hasbeen,

I see you are railing once again over the notion of "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work.". Un-Australian in my book but you do you.

The car industry became unviable because the mining boom saw our dollar at $1.10 US for a few years and Abbott chose that time to put the knife in. It is now at .65 but we have lost the skill sets to ever revise the industry now.

Well done to folk like you who applauded it.

For god's sake, SR that was your most useless comment yet. Haven't you noticed it is the Greens who want to shut down the coal industry, but Anny just might beat them to it.

Albo had to guarantee we would maintain coal supply to Japan while there, as they can see the stupidity of this government.

It was the stupidity of Whitlam, Gillard & Rudd who gave us the cost of living we have today, & it will get a lot worse with Albo's immigration.

I suggest you move into as highrise, if you don't already live in one. They'll probably keep the power on in those, worried about people stuck in powerless lifts. Out in the burbs it is going to be dark & cold with idiot Albo, & mad man Bowen running the hatchet through our power systems.