Queensland Government being sued to finally return other people's money

ABC News, 23 September 2016:

Lawyers say a class action in Queensland over unpaid wages to Aboriginal people is setting a national precedent, as dozens more come forward in other states to say they were not paid properly.

More than 300 people are suing the Queensland Government in the Federal Court, which held money in a trust that should have been paid to them as labourers or domestic workers more than half a century ago.

Rebecca Jancauskas, from Shine lawyers, said the class actions first directions hearing this week had revealed that the litigation proceedings would be speedy because of the advanced age of the claimants.

"It was clear that these claims are being taken seriously by federal court bench," she said.

"And proceedings have set the tone for litigation in other states where protectionist legislation was in place and wages were withheld from Indigenous people.

"So what we're doing at Shine is investigating bringing proceedings in other states — including the Northern Territory, Western Australia and NSW."……

The Queensland Government did set up a reparations scheme in 2002, but Ms Jancauskas said claimants only received between $2,000 and $7,000 for decades of work as labourers, stockmen or domestic servants.

"The amount they received through the reparations scheme was but a fraction of the money that the Government is holding in trust for them," Ms Jancauskas said.

"Had people received their entitlements through reparations schemes, then there would be no need for litigation to be pursued."

Those who took part in the scheme had to sign a deed of release, stopping them from taking further action.

But Ms Jancauskas said that would not stop them from participating in the litigation.

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, is learning the hard way that Australians expect the boss to act fairly

As a recognised bargaining representative of the Turnbull Government, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash is once more before the Australian Fair Work Commission.

Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), media release, 17 August 2016:

CPSU TAKES ON MINISTER MICHAELIA CASH IN FAIR WORK COMMISSION

The CPSU has taken Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to the Fair Work Commission over her failure to engage in good faith around enterprise agreements for Commonwealth public sector workers.

The case is based on Minister Cash’s refusal to deal constructively with the CPSU, including refusing to discuss or properly consider the union’s fair and reasonable proposals to settle bargaining across multiple Commonwealth agencies.

Action in Fair Work is part of the union’s multi-pronged plan to make the Turnbull Government fix its public sector bargaining mess; the strategy also includes industrial action at international airports and elsewhere, community campaigning targeted in marginal electorates and repeated efforts to engage directly with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Minister Cash.

CPSU National President Alistair Waters said: “Minister Michaelia Cash is responsible for setting and implementing the Turnbull Government’s harsh and unworkable approach to public sector bargaining. We’re taking her to Fair Work to hold her and the Turnbull Government accountable for this debacle that’s unfairly attacked workers for nearly three years.”

“Minister Cash hasn’t just refused to meet with the CPSU, she has also publicly misrepresented our position on numerous occasions and otherwise tried to undermine our attempts to help her fix the Turnbull Government’s bargaining mess. Our members have shown a willingness to compromise but Minister Cash’s responses have been consistently toxic and unfair.”

“There’s a bitter irony that we’ve had to take Minister Cash to the Fair Work Commission to get her to fulfil even her most basic obligations. This is the person who as Employment Minister is responsible for the Fair Work Act she’s flouting by actively undermining bargaining.”

“Public sector workers have fought for nearly three years to protect their existing rights against this Government’s bargaining attacks and they are determined to secure a fair and reasonable outcome. The only way for this protracted dispute to end is for the Turnbull Government to realise that its attempts to force workers to give up family friendly rights and other conditions have failed, and instead engage with us on a sensible alternative.”

“Our action in the Fair Work Commission is just one part of a much broader strategy to pressure Prime Minister Turnbull and Minister Cash to fix their bargaining debacle. We’re also planning further industrial action in the wake of last week’s Immigration and Border Force strike at international airports and elsewhere and continuing with our community campaigning in marginal electorates.”

Young Libs foul their political nest again

The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 July 2016:

This article excerpt was removed due to a confidential defamation settlement between Fairfax and unidentified parties.

Note that the details of this web address registration were altered on 28 July 2016

Shop at Woolworths on the NSW North Coast? You need to read this

Fair Work Ombudsman

Trolley collection services procurement by Woolworths Limited,  media release date June 2016: 

In June 2014 we commenced an Inquiry into Woolworths’ procurement of trolley collection services.

For nearly a decade before this, we'd been investigating allegations of serious non-compliance with workplace laws involving businesses providing trolley collection services to Woolworths Limited (Woolworths).

In response to a perceived lack of improvement in compliance and disturbing allegations of violence towards workers at some Woolworths' sites, we started an Inquiry into their procurement of trolley collection services. It aimed to comprehensively identify and address the levels and drivers of non-compliance with Australian workplace laws by businesses involved in Woolworths' labour supply chains.

We examined around 130 Woolworths' supermarket sites across Australia and found indications of some form of non-compliance at 79% of them. The findings of this report indicate an entrenched culture of non-compliance in the Woolworths trolley collection supply chain.

At the time of publishing, as a result of the Inquiry, we've taken enforcement action against a number of businesses (and their Directors) involved in various Woolworths' labour supply chains, including:

commencing legal action against 2 businesses and their Directors, one of which we believe provided us with false and misleading records and the other for allegedly underpaying over $25 000 in wages

issuing 9 letters of caution for various Award contraventions, failing to adequately keep records, and misclassifying employment as an independent contracting arrangement.

We are also considering future legal proceedings against a number of other businesses providing labour to Woolworths for similar alleged contraventions.

Download the full report on our Inquiry into trolley collection services procurement by Woolworths Limited (PDF 1.1MB).

EXCERPTS

Examining 130 (or 13.5%) of Woolworths’ supermarket sites across Australia , the Inquiry found:

n more than 3 in every 4 (79%) of sites visited had indications of some form of non-compliance with workplace laws

n almost 1 in every 2 (49%) of sites visited presented serious issues, that is multiple indicators of non-compliance

n deficient governance arrangements contributing to a lack of Award knowledge and substandard record keeping

n false, inaccurate or misleading records

n failure to issue pay slips to workers

n workers being paid rates as low as $10 an hour

n cash payments which disguised the true identities of workers and actual amounts paid to workers

n manipulation of the identity card system implemented by Woolworths

n workers vulnerable to exploitation and often complicit in acts of non-compliance

n complex labour supply chains with networks of corporate structures and intermediaries to facilitate cash payments, recruitment of vulnerable workers and production of false records.

These characteristics are indicative of an entrenched culture of non-compliance in the Woolworths trolley collection supply chain......

We examined correspondence and the Trolley Collection Service Agreement from 2011 relating to 17 NSW and ACT supermarket sites. By dividing the agreed price by the weekly labour hours required to deliver the service, we found the cost per labour hour was below minimum pay rates at 15 of the 17 sites.

Australian Federal Election 2016: 666 apprenticeships gone under Nationals in Page

Labor Candidate for Page Janelle Saffin, media release, 30 June 2016:

666 Apprenticeships gone in Page under the Nationals

New figures released by the Department of Education show that apprenticeship numbers in Page have fallen by 31.5 per cent in two years, with a loss of 666 apprenticeships in the Page electorate.

Janelle Saffin, Federal Labor Candidate for Page said disappointingly Mr Hogan and the rest of the Nationals have allowed this to happen, with these figures replicated across Australia, with 130,000 apprenticeships gone nationally.

The number of apprenticeships in Page dropped from 2,117 at 31 December 2013, to just 1,451 at 31 December 2015.

“The retreat from supporting apprentices and the vocational education and training sector started with Mr Abbott and Mr Truss, and it continues with Mr Turnbull and Mr Joyce,” Ms Saffin said.

“I am serious about investing in apprentices, skills and training in Page.

“The Nationals have cut $2.75 billion from the skills portfolio, including $1 billion in cuts to apprentices by scrapping the Tools for Your Trade program and access and mentoring programs.

“How can they talk ‘jobs and growth’ and then decimate apprenticeships and the VET sector?

“It’s vital that we train and retrain our workforce to improve participation, productivity, and innovation. This is what will drive growth in our region.

“Kevin Hogan and the Nationals have been missing in action on apprenticeships and jobs.”

Ms Saffin said Labor had a comprehensive set of policies to help apprentices, skills and training, including among other policy measures:

• A TAFE Funding Guarantee.

• $8,000 cap on VET FEE-HELP loans per year and a VET sector ombudsman.

• A sector-wide national review to ensure vocational education is able to meet the

training needs of the nation.

• Establishing Commonwealth Institutes of Higher Education to deliver new technical

and education opportunities to areas where access remains difficult and participation is too low.

• Boosting apprenticeships across the country by:

- creating new apprenticeship opportunities through setting a quota of

apprentices on major federally-funded projects.

- reintroducing the Tools for Your Trade program at $3,000 per apprentice to

support them from commencement to completion.

- restoring support for Group Training organisations.

- creating pathways into apprenticeships for 10,000 young people unemployed

people through the Apprentice Ready program.

- piloting a National Skills Recognition Entitlement program with 5,000 places to

help mature-aged, retrenched workers turn their extensive work experience into

formal qualifications.

- connecting potential apprentices with jobs and training through an

Apprenticeships Connect search portal.

- appointing a dedicated Apprentice Advocate.

“Only a Shorten Labor Government will deliver the support for apprentices and TAFE that local residents expect and a vocational education system that delivers a skilled workforce for the future,” Ms Saffin said.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton never lets facts get in the way of a good dogwhistle about demmed furriners

This was Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald on 18 May 2016:

"They [refugees] won't be numerate or literate in their own language, let alone English," Mr Dutton said.

"These people would be taking Australian jobs, there's no question about that.

"For many of them that would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it so there would be huge cost and there's no sense in sugar-coating that, that's the scenario."

This is a copy of a Peter Dutton media release published by My Sunshine Coast  on 18th of May 2016:   

Labor and Greens jeopardise refugee outcomes

Labor and Mr Shorten's arbitrary doubling of Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Programme is all about politics and was a crass attempt to win over the left on boat turn backs.

About 70 per cent of Australia's migration programme is made up of skilled migrants and Australia's annual net migration figure is approximately 190,000.

In addition under the Refugee and Humanitarian Programme we accept 13,750 people per year. We provide services to applicants who by definition come from war-torn countries and situations where people face persecution.

Our Government provides significant funding on settlement services to help people within the humanitarian and refugee programme with services such as education, training, accommodation, English language lessons and trauma counselling.

Our programme grows gradually from 13,750 per annum. Labor's decision to just double the figure was done solely for political purposes. There was no science in doubling the figure – it was purely done to try to win over the Left during the debate at ALP conference on boat turnbacks.

Here are the facts on people coming in through the Refugee and Humanitarian Programme:

* 44 per cent of the female arrivals and 33 per cent of males do not understand spoken English prior to arrival
* 23 per cent of female arrivals and 17 per cent of males are illiterate in their own language
* 15 per cent have never attended school
* 46 per cent have never undertaken paid work

Data from the Building a New Life in Australia study, the Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants (BLNA) which remains ongoing, indicates that humanitarian entrants face considerable economic and social challenges to settling successfully in Australia. The BNLA found humanitarian settlers fill low skill and low paid occupations.

Other studies have found that humanitarian entrants generally have poorer employment outcomes than other migrants, particularly in their early years of settlement.

The Australian Census Migrants Integrated Dataset shows that for humanitarian entrants 32 per cent are recording as being 'in the labour force' while 45 per cent were 'not in the labour force'. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that in March the general Australian population had a Labour Force Participation Rate of 65 per cent.

The Personal Income Tax Migrants Integrated Dataset indicates humanitarian visa holders reported income of around $25,000 well below the national average of just under $50,000 for Australian taxpayers.

During the data matching period less than 20 per cent of these humanitarian migrants submitted a tax return.

What this shows is that it is vital to be able to provide the housing, employment, health and integration services that provide the base for these migrants to build a new, happy, healthy and successful life in our country – a process that can take years, even a generation.

A doubling of the Refuge and Humanitarian Programme annually as committed to by Labor would cost an estimated $2.5 billion dollars over the four year period of the Forward Estimates.

The Greens proposal to quadruple the intake to 50,000 annually would come at an estimated cost of $7 billion dollars over the Forward Estimates.

Australia is already one of the most generous nations in resettling refugees.

We rank in the top three nations for providing permanent resettlement of those most in need from around the world.

Refugees and humanitarian entrants are selected not because they have skills, but because they face persecution or serious discrimination. Many will have been denied basic services such as health and education in their own country and will have suffered trauma or torture for years.

Given those circumstances, we should not be surprised that entrants under the Refugee and Humanitarian Programme need considerable and specialist long term support to settle into our country.

That is why the Government is committed so strongly to funding settlement services, but it comes at a cost.

The size and composition of the Refugee and Humanitarian Programme is carefully considered annually to ensure sufficient resources are available to successfully process and integrate those fleeing persecution.

The Labor/Greens proposals risk jeopardising settlement outcomes.

Australians support an organised migration programme; Australia is a nation of immigrants.

But the programme needs to remain manageable and acceptable to maintain that support from the broad Australian population. Australia has proudly and successfully resettled more than 825,000 refugees and others in humanitarian needs since World War II and we have the capacity to continue this generosity in a managed process.

To assert that virtually overnight you can double (Labor) or quadruple (The Greens) – on an annual basis – this intake of vulnerable people with many special needs is the height of irresponsibility and jeopardises the current community support for the refugee programme.

One only has to look at the influx of more than 50,000 people illegally on boats during the last Labor Government to see how unrealistic both the Labor and Greens proposals are.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will take at least the next three years to simply process these people.

The special intake of 12,000 Syrians and Iraqis from the war-torn Middle East will take a number of programme years, simply because we cannot cut corners in regards to the various checks, but particularly security checks, that we must carry out on people before we offer them the opportunity to resettle in Australia. The Government has committed over $800 million to this special intake alone.

We live in a dangerous and uncertain world in terms of security and we need appropriate processes in place to ensure we are assisting those most in need with the least prospect of returning to their previous lives.

One only has to look at the recent events in Europe to realise that secure borders and organised migration are vitally important to the security of any nation.

Only the Coalition is committed to strong border protection policies to keep Australia as safe and secure as is possible.

THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

So what are voters supposed to conclude from this election campaign spiel?

Apparently it’s that we are all supposed to be concerned that refugees will take our jobs or become a burden on the welfare system because they are illiterate and unemployed.

What Peter Dutton is careful not to say about the incomplete longtitudinal study he is quoting is that it is examining the lives of 2,399 recently arrived humanitarian migrants – 64 per cent of whom had been in Australia less than six months and 83 per cent less than one year.

Anyone fleeing from war-torn countries to an essentially monolingual country (where unemployment is running at 5.8%) who finds permanent full-time employment in under a year is likely to be an exceptional person, so it is hardly surprising that in those first months on Australian soil a number are unemployed.

However, when it comes to looking at humanitarian refugees 15 years of age and over with labour force status recorded in the 2011 Australian Census, what Dutton does not mention is that (using New South Wales as the example) 79.34% of Iranians, 78.6% of Iraqis, 78.4% of Afghans and 66.3% of Sudanese were in employment.

Nor does he draw attention to the fact that those refugees classified as 'not in the labour force'  would include children under 15 year of age. Of those recent humanitarian refugee units arriving in Australia 50% contained children.

As for recent humanitarian refugees having incomes of around $25,000 a year – well so do an est. 1.365 million other people according to Australian Bureau of Statistics published data.

One would have to be profoundly stupid to take Peter Dutton’s demmed furriners spray at face value.

If your state government isn't Liberal-Nationals don't expect the Turnbull Federal Government to give a damn about 'jobs 'n' growth' for your families

The limited value to South Australia of one particular Turnbull Government defence contract....

Adelaide Now, 10 March 2016:

SPAIN is celebrating the creation of up to 3000 jobs — building Australian ships — as South Australia desperately waits for news of shipbuilding jobs here.

Local newspapers have revealed that Spain is set to get the contract for two replacement supply ships as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wraps up his trip to SA.

Officials in the shipbuilding town Cadiz described it as “great news” and a “historic” win with one report saying it would create 2000 jobs over four years and another saying 3000 jobs.

ASC was knocked out of the running for the contract early on, with the Government opting for a limited tender. The competition was between South Korea and Spanish shipbuilders Navantia, who designed the troubled Air Warfare Destroyers.

At the time, then-Defence Minister David Johnston said the ships were too big to be built in Australia.

But critics from within the industry and within Parliament said they could be built here and the jobs could help bridge the ‘Valley of Death’.

Radio 5aaa, Adelaide, 6 May 2016:

A shaken Nick Xenophon has spoken to Leon Byner about a government decision that has dashed hopes that shipbuilding work worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” would be done in Australia.

Senator Xenophon spoke to Leon Byner only minutes after stumbling across a bombshell about the deal with a Spanish shipmaker to build supply vessels.

“It was revealed in the course of Senate estimates that the supply ship contract was signed yesterday,” Mr Xenophon revealed. “No media announcement, no media release has been put out yet.”

Mr Xenophon said it was “shocking news” to discover the contract worth $800m will only include $130m of Australian content and no Australian shipbuilders.

Asked whether at least Australian steel would be used in the build, Mr Xenophon told a bemused Leon Byner that the Spanish shipbuilder had simply been given the “contact details” of Australian steelmakers.

“You’re telling me that the best they can do for local procurement is give out a phone number? Are you joking?” asked Leon.

“This is no joking matter,” replied Mr Xenophon.

“I was actually shocked. We were all quite stunned.”

Multimillionarie Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'churn & burn' path for unemployed, low-skilled youth

Set out below are the official bare bones of the Youth Jobs PaTH  internships for unemployed 17-24 year olds that the Turnbull Government is offering from 1 April 2017.

What these bones both reveal and conceal is that in 2017-18 an est. 30,000 young people jobless for six months or more will be set to work between 15-25 hours a week for 4 to 12 weeks in mainly low skilled jobs in supermarkets, cafés,  newsagents or other businesses in order to receive an additional $100 a week in Centrelink benefits - while the erstwhile ‘employer’ pockets $1,000 upfront for so generously offering to accept free labour arranged through JobActive employment service providers.

Given the minimum wage is $17.29 per hour, a business would save $432.25 if the job seeker was employed as an intern for 25 hours a week rather than as a minimum wage employee. Interns would receive $68.45 per week below the minimum wage and not receive sick leave, superannuation and penalty rates.

With 'churn and burn' already suspected in existing JobActive Australia employment programs, what could possibly go wrong?

==============================================

The Government will provide $751.7 million over four years from 2016‑17 to establish a Youth Jobs PaTH program for young job seekers aged under 25 years to improve youth employment outcomes. The new pathway is designed to enhance young people's employability and provide up to 30,000 young people each year with real work experience. The pathway has three elements:

Industry‑endorsed pre‑employment training (Prepare) — from 1 April 2017, training for up to six weeks will be provided to develop basic employability skills, including those required to identify and secure sustainable employment.

Internship placements of up to twelve weeks (Trial) — from 1 April 2017, up to 30,000 internship placements will be offered each year to enable businesses and job seekers to trial their employment fit. Job seekers will receive a $200 fortnightly incentive payment and businesses will receive $1,000 upfront to host an intern. Placements will be voluntary and will be organised by employment services providers. Job seekers must be registered with jobactive, Disability Employment Services or Transition to Work, and have been in employment services for at least six months to be eligible for the internship program.

Youth Bonus wage subsidies (Hire) — from 1 January 2017, employers will receive a wage subsidy of up to $10,000 for job seekers under 25 years old with barriers to employment and will continue to receive up to $6,500 for the most job‑ready job seekers. Job seekers must be registered with 
jobactive orTransition to Work, and have been in employment services for at least six months for employers to be eligible for the wage subsidy. Funding for this component will be provided from within the existing funding for wage subsidies.

The program will include an employer mobilisation strategy to encourage participation in the initiative by all employers.

As part of this measure, the Government will also achieve savings of $204.2 million over four years. The design of wage subsidies available through jobactive will be improved to reduce red tape for employers, including by simplifying payments and enabling employers to choose more flexible payment arrangements.

==============================================

So how is the Coalition's 'supadupa' Jobactive Australia scheme going?

This is an excerpt from a Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Minister for Employment Senator Eric Abetz, MP for Cowper and Assistant Minister for Employment Luke Hartsuyker joint media release on 31 March 2015:

In 1998, the Howard Government introduced the Job Network and revolutionised the delivery of employment services to job seekers.

Unfortunately, the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government changed the employment services system to reward process over results and encourage training for training’s sake.

The system became mired in red tape, letting down job seekers and employers.

The new jobactive system will be focused on results and reward performance not process.

From 1 July 2015, 66 organisations will deliver one or more jobactive services to job seekers and employers across Australia.

There will be clearer incentives to ensure employment service providers are focused on better preparing job seekers to meet the needs of local employers and helping people to find and keep a job.

Service providers will no longer receive ‘job placement’ payments.

The rules around training have also been tightened to ensure that job seekers are not being sent to training for training’s sake, as is currently the case.

There will be less red tape so that providers can spend more time doing what they do best – helping job seekers find and keep a job.

The new employment services contract will also be extended from three years to five years.

A new regional loading for providers in selected regions will be introduced, recognising that labour market conditions vary across Australia.

The new model encourages young job seekers to take up a job and employers to take on new employees.

The Job Commitment Bonus programme will encourage young, long-term unemployed job seekers aged 18-30 to find and keep a job.

Setting up Jobactive Australia cost an est. $6.756 million according to the Dept. of Employment.

In the first two months it was operating (1 July 2015 to 30 September 2015) those approved service providers billed the Employment Fund General Account a total of $6.170 million predominately for professional services, training, clothing & presentation.

On 17 September 2015 Employment Minister Eric Abetz boasted that Jobactive Australia had reached 50,000 job placements since the start of the scheme. However he was careful not to qualify what comprised a 'placement'.

According to the Dept. of Employment Budget Statements 2015-16 Jobactive Australia was allocated $1.459 billion for that financial year. This budget expense is expected to rise to $1.778 billion in 2016-17, with total employment services expenses expected to total $1.932 billion.

For that amount of money the Abbott-Turnbull Government expects the Jobactive scheme to have placed 380,000 jobseekers in often wage-subsidised employment in 2015-16, at a cost of est.$2,500 per placement covering Employment Fund expenditure, service fees and outcome payments.

Unfortunately 68% of these placements are likely to last only 4 weeks before the person is unemployed once more. I suspect the percentage of temporary jobs is so high because this allows service providers to bill the government again and again for ‘helping’ those same job seekers find other temporary jobs once the initial placement dissolves into thin air and, via the $1.2 billion national wage subsidy pool potentially allows employers to 'churn' new employees on short term contacts so that employers receive financial benefits from the pool but employees are unemployed at contract's end.

None of the departmental employment sustainability measures encompass positions lasting longer than six months, so it is unclear as to whether there is a genuine expectation that job service providers will assist in finding permanent employment for anyone.

In July 2015 when Jobactive Australia commenced, the real national unemployment rate was probably running at est. 8.7% and by March 2016 it had climbed to est.11% according Roy Morgan Research vs ABS Employment Estimates (1992-2016).

In November 2013 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) seasonally adjusted combined unemployment and underemployment rate (underutilisation) was 13.5% and by February 2016 this combined rate was 14.2%.

In September 2013 the average number of weeks an unemployed person spent looking for a job was 39, with an est.134,400 people looking for 52 weeks and over.

Under the Abbott-Turnbull Government by March 2016 the average number of weeks had risen to 46.2, with an est. 181,700 people looking for 52 weeks and over. [Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery, Mar 2016] 

In June 2014 an est. 123,800 15 to 24 year-olds were looking for full time or part-time work. By March 2016 the number of young people in this category had risen to 133,000. [ibid]

The Brotherhood of St. Laurence reported on 14 March 2016 that some rural and regional areas weregrappling with youth unemployment rates above 20 per cent.

Richmond-Tweed (including Tweed Heads, Byron Bay, Lismore, Mullumbimby) in the NSW Northern Rivers region had a youth unemployment rate of 14.5% in January 2015 and by January 2016 this rate had risen to 17.4% [Brotherhood of St Laurence, Australia’s Youth Unemployment Hotspots: Snapshot March 2016, p. 3]

Yet on 1 May 2016 Treasurer Scott Morrison was telling The Courier Mail that there had been 50,000 youth jobs created in the past 18 months across Australia. He also was offering no supporting proof for this bold statement covering November 2015 to April 2016 and, as neither ABS labour force nor job vacancy data tracks jobs growth it is hard to see where he finding his figures.

Somehow these statistics engender little confidence that the Liberal-Nationals Coalition has taken a genuinely constructive approach to unemployment since winning government in September 2013 – despite that gung-ho media release announcing “jobactive services”.

Australian Federal Election 2016: oh dear, Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan is at it again

In February this year Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan fronted the Grafton Chamber of Commerce and delivered a large pork pie regarding thresholds for foreign investment in Australian agricultural land and businesses.

He was at it again this month with a public assurance concerning foreign workers made to ABC News on 9 March which also picked up the daily double by repeating that misinformation about investment thresholds:

A National Party MP is hoping local jobs will not be lost as a result of a Chinese buy-out of north coast NSW macadamia farms.

Four properties covering 380 hectares at Dunoon near Lismore, and formerly run by US-based Hancock Farms, have been bought by a Chinese group known as "Discovery".

The member for Page Kevin Hogan said he was aware of rumours of a sale.

Mr Hogan said a Free Trade Agreement with China did not mean the door was now open to foreign workers.

"It's a well-known fact within the free trade agreements that we do with any country, not just China, because let's not just make this a China thing, that any company and there's been companies that have owned Australian assets for 200 years and with every free trade agreement the work has to be offered to Australians first," Mr Hogan said.

Kevin Hogan said any foreign investment greater than $15 million had to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, and he was waiting on information on whether the macadamia sale was vetted.

"We made an election commitment to lower it from the ridiculous amount of $ 250 million when it used to be triggered to look at a purchase if it was in the national interest, we have lowered that from 250 to 15 [million dollars] so if this entity has triggered over $15 million it would have absolutely gone before the Foreign Investment Review Board," Mr Hogan said. [my red bolding]

Now voters in the Page electorate are far from silly and many would have wondered what free trade agreement Mr. Hogan had been reading to boldly state that “with every free trade agreement the work has to be offered to Australians first”.

The Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s own copy of ARTICLE 10.4: GRANT OF TEMPORARY ENTRY of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement clearly states:

3. In respect of the specific commitments on temporary entry in this Chapter, unless otherwise specified in Annex 10-A, neither Party shall:

(a) impose or maintain any limitations on the total number of visas to be granted to natural persons of the other Party; or

(b) require labour market testing, economic needs testing or other procedures of similar effect as a condition for temporary entry.

So this free trade agreement allows an unlimited number of temporary work visas for Chinese nationals (and in some cases their spouses) in many employment categories and, there is no test to see if the employment positions in Chinese-owned businesses within this country that they are taking up – for a period up to 4 years - could be filled by suitably qualified Australian workers.

One has to wonder if Kevin Hogan reads beyond the regular ‘talking points’ distributed to MPs by his party.

In Malcolm Bligh Turnbull's Australia.....

It would appear that a modern-day version of slavey is flourishing in a quiet corner of this country.

ABC News, 26 February 2016:

A group of Pacific islanders are being paid less than $10 a week after deductions to pick fruit and vegetables on Australian farms by a company that sponsored their visas under a federally-run worker program.

The workers came to Australia in January as part of the Department of Employment's Seasonal Worker Program.

The group of 20 from Fiji, and others from Tonga, were taken to the caravan park in Merrigum, in the food bowl district of northern Victoria.

Most of the workers are taken by bus every morning to nearby tomato and apple farms.

They are here on 416 visas after signing contracts with AFS Contracting Pty Ltd, based in Shepparton.

Isikeli Fifita, one of the workers from Tonga, said after deductions — which included super, rent, health insurance, tax and transport — his total net pay was $9.96 for one week.

"I feel sad because there's no money to send to my family in Tonga," Mr Fifita said.

Petero Kanawabu said he expected long hours and hard work when he signed on to come to Australia under the program.

But said he, and many others in his group from Fiji, had been shocked by their payslips.

"I thought that we would come here and do a job, maybe save some money," Mr Kanawabu said.

"Even my mum cried when I told her my first payslip. I don't know what to do now."…..

Read the rest of the article here.

Job losses on NSW North Coast signals Essential Energy privatisation move by Baird Government?

Even though Essential Energy was not included in Baird Government plans to privatize state electricity supply assets, the company's decision to cut its workforce and enter into an enterprise agreement which pares down its wages bill is looking less like a response to changed financial circumstances and more like an effort to make this business a more attractive privatization prize should the NSW government change its mind.

The Daily Examiner 15 February 2016:

ELECTRICITY provider Essential Energy wants to cut 800 jobs from regional New South Wales by 2018 under a draft workplace agreement.

The attempt, which also calls for unlimited job cuts after June 2018, predictably failed to inspire union delegates to sign on the dotted line.

The proposal comes after Essential Energy had announced in September there would be 60 job cuts on the North Coast, including 15 in Grafton and nine each in Lismore and Coffs Harbour.

That followed the Australian Energy Regulator's decision to cut the company's revenue by 30%.

Electrical Trades Union secretary Steve Butler said more than 1000 Essential Energy jobs had been slashed since 2013.

"Enterprise bargaining generally means that if you give something up you get something in return but it seems Essential Energy management think it's a one-way street," he said.

"Not only is Essential Energy wanting to sack people but they want to slash working conditions for remaining staff as well as implement a two-year wage freeze."

Other conditions included a ban on re-employing redundant workers within two years except for casual or temporary positions, and halving the amount workers are paid when called in for emergencies, from a minimum four hours' pay to two.

The need for outsourced contractors to be afforded the appropriate wages and conditions would also be removed, Mr Butler said.

"The NSW Government seems intent on slashing regional jobs at Essential Energy, which threatens service standards while maximising the profits they take from rural and regional customers," he said…….

Wauchope Gazette, 7 January 2016:

ESSENTIAL Energy's troubled year wrapped up with fresh questions raised about the amount of money paid to executives.

The company released its annual report in November for the 2014-2015 financial year.

Of particular public interest was the almost $4 million paid in salaries and bonuses to executives.

It stands in stark contrast to the 700 jobs the company said it would have to cut because of restrictions imposed on it by the Australian Energy Regulator in 2015.

The report shows the company delivered an operating profit before tax of $381.2 million, which was significantly higher than the target of $108.5 million......

So what's happening with the Fair Work Commission's penalty rate review?

By December 2015 the Fair Work Commission’s penalty rates review had generated five days of transcripts and received a large number of submissions from employer groups, unions representing employees and one federal Labor MP, Melissa Price.

This last hearing date in the penalty rates case is scheduled for 15 April 2016.

There will be a good many households in rural and regional Australia where those with paid employment receive penalty rates for working long and/or unsociable hours.

As the two industry groups being targeted are significant employers outside metropolitan areas, perhaps those living in the NSW Northern Rivers region should all be closely watching the Commission at work and the degree to which its final determinations align with the data to which it has access.

The Fair Work Commission in its Changing work patterns report has this to say in December 2015:

5 Conclusion

This report presented data on changes in the labour market, types of work arrangements and preferences, and how people spend their time outside of work.

The analysis showed that the Australian labour market has changed over the last 25 years.

Although the participation rate for males has fallen over time, it has increased for females, while the decline in male full-time employment has been offset by an increase in part-time employment.

Further, employment in the services industries has increased, along with the proportion of Professionals and Community and personal services workers.

Data from the ABS showed that most employed persons worked Monday to Friday, and five days was the most common number of days worked in all jobs per week, with almost one in three employees usually working weekends.

Focusing on the nature of weekend work, data from the HILDA survey also showed that around one in three employed persons usually worked weekends.

Employed persons who usually worked weekends were more likely to have their working days vary and work a rotating shift or irregular schedule.

They were also more likely to work part-time hours, be employed on a casual basis, prefer to work more hours and be currently enrolled in a course of study for a trade certificate, diploma, degree or other education qualification.

Around one in three employed persons who usually worked weekends were employed in Retail trade or Accommodation and food services.

Employed persons in these industries were more likely to prefer working more hours, taking into account how it would affect income. Data on activities outside of work showed that the total number of minutes per day spent on free time activities decreased between 1997 and 2006 and that almost half of those surveyed never attend religious services.

According to the Fair Work Commission as at June 2014 nationally there were 13,212 accommodation businesses, 35,457 cafes and restaurants, 3,583 catering services, 6,067 pubs, taverns and bars, 2,908 hospitality clubs and 24,035 takeaway food services.

The Fair Work Commission also produced an Industry profile— Accommodation and food services in December 2015:

Data for June to November 2015 show that the industry accounted for: over $80 billion of sales and 2.6 per cent of value added to the economy; 7 per cent of employment, almost 6 per cent of actual hours worked per week in all jobs and over 4 per cent of wages;  around 4 per cent of all businesses and 17 per cent of all award-reliant employees; around 1 per cent of investment;  around 16 per cent of total underemployment; and around $6.6 billion in company gross operating profit……

Over half of enterprises in Accommodation and food services used shift work arrangements compared with less than one quarter across all industries. The most common shift work arrangements among enterprises in Accommodation and food services were evening and night shifts, short shifts of four hours or less, afternoon shifts and eight-hour shifts.

When the data is broken down: (i) 10.7 per cent of these businesses open on one or both days on a weekend; and (ii) 44.5 per cent of all businesses supplying accommodation and food services are found in rural and regional Australia.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) business profitability tables show that; in the September Quarter 2012 seasonally adjusted total accommodation & food service industry profit-before-tax was $966 million ($1.2 billion in December Quarter 2012), in the same quarter in 2013 it was $844 million ($744 million in December 2013), in September Quarter 2014 it was $1.1 billion ($1.1 billion in December Quarter 2014 ) and, by September Quarter 2015 total profit was still holding at $1.1 billion.

The Fair Work Commission states as at June 2014 there were 130,000 businesses in the retail trade. The highest individual sector percentage of these was clothing retailers at 8.4 per cent, super markets/grocery stores at 7.3 per cent, other specialized food retailing at 4.2 per cent and, electrical/electronic/gas appliance retailing at 3.6 per cent.

The Fair Work Commission published an Industry profile— Retail trade in December 2015:

The highest proportion of enterprises in Retail trade operated seven days a week, followed by weekdays and Saturday, while across all industries, the highest proportion of enterprises operated weekdays only…..

A lower proportion of enterprises in Retail trade used shift work arrangements compared with all industries. The most common shift work arrangements used in both enterprises in Retail trade and across all industries were set rosters and eight-hour shifts.

When it comes to retail businesses: (i) 39.9 per cent operate on one or both days on a weekend; and (ii) 43.6 per cent of are located in rural and regional Australia.

According to the latest available ABS statistical data relating to business profitability; in the September Quarter 2012 seasonally adjusted total retail industry profit-before-tax was $3.2 billion, in the same quarter in 2013 it was $3.3 billion, in September Quarter 2014 it was $3.8 billion and, by September Quarter 2015 these profits had risen to $3.8 billion.