Australian Fair Work Commission: Who's Who - a member cheat sheet for 2017 and other matters

The Fair Work Commission (FWC), formerly known as Fair Work Australia, is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the Fair Work Act 2009. It replaced the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) and a number of AIRC members became part of the FWC organisational structure.

As part of a four-yearly review of modern awards the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission handed down a decision on Sunday penalty rates for workers in hospitality and retail sectors on 23 February 2017.

For the purposes of this review the Full Bench was composed of:

Justice Iain Ross, President

Vice President Joseph Catanzariti

Deputy President Ingrid Asbury

Commissioner Peter Hampton

Commissioner Tim Lee

In 2016 the Queensland Labor Government made a submission to the FWC modern awards review opposing cuts to penalty rates, along with the ACT Labor Government, the Victorian Labor Government and South Australian Labor Government. 

As did the federal parliamentary Labor Party (The Loyal Opposition) as well as the state parliamentary Labor Party in Tasmania , New South Wales and Western Australia.

The Turnbull Federal Coalition Government was notable by its absence in the list of submissions. As was the Coalition state governments in Tasmania, New South Wales and Western Australia.

A full list of submissions, including those by unions and industry/employer groups can be found here.

As this probably will not be the last time the Fair Work Commission decides to extend its brief to cutting the hourly rates of ordinary workers, a closer look at who is making these decisions is merited.

This is as much as I could glean to date concerning the current makeup of the Commission in March 2017:

Fair Work Commission President

Justice Iain Ross AO  – Labor Government appointee 2012 to 2024

Vice Presidents

Joseph Catanzariti  - Labor Government appointee 2013 to 2024

Adam Hatcher SC  - Labor Government appointee 2013 to 2028

Deputy Presidents

Jennifer Acton – Labor Government appointee 1992 and then Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2020

Lea Drake – Labor Government appointee 1994 and then Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2018

Reginald Hamilton - Coalition Government appointee 2001 and then Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2022

Matthew O'Callaghan - Coalition Government appointee 2001 and then Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2021[resigned February, leaving April 2017]

Jonathan Hamberger - Coalition Government appointee 2004 then Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2024

Peter Sams AM – Labor Government appointee 2012 to 2021

Anna Booth – Labor Government appointee 2012 to 2021

Ms Ingrid Asbury - Labor appointee 2013 to 2028

Ms Anne Gooley - Labor appointee 2013 to 2018

Mr Val Gostencnik – Labor appointee 2013 to 2028

Jeffery Lawrence – Labor appointee 2013 to 2017

John Kovacic – Labor Government appointee 2013 to 2022
Geoffrey Bull – Coalition Government appointee 2015 to 2022
Melanie Binet – Coalition Government appointee 2016 to 2034
W. Richard Clancy - Coalition Government appointee 2016 to 2036
Lyndall Dean - Coalition Government appointee 2016 to 2037

Commissioners

Paula Spencer - Coalition Government appointee 2001 then Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2029

Bruce Williams – Coalition Government appointee 2006 to 2023

Anna Cribb - Labor Government appointee 2009 to 2019
Ian Cambridge - Labor Government appointee 2010 to 2033
John Ryan - Labor Government appointee 2010 to 2017
Peter Hampton - Labor Government appointee 2010 to 2025
Julian Roe - Labor Government appointee 2010 to 2017
Michelle Bissett – Labor Government appointee 2010 to 2022

Chris Simpson – Labor Government appointee 2010 to 2034

Tim Lee – Labor Government appointee 2011 to 2029

Susan Booth – Labor Government appointee 2011 to 2022

Donna McKenna Labor Government appointee 2012 to 2025
Bernie Riordan - Labor Government appointee 2012 to 2027
David Gregory - Labor Government appointee 2012 to 2019

Nickolas  Wilson - Labor Government appointee 2013 to 2025

Leigh Johns OAM - Labor Government appointee 2013 to 2034
Tony Saunders - Coalition Government appointee 2015 to 2039
Tanya Cirkovic - Coalition Government appointee 2015 to 2028
Christopher Platt - Coalition Government appointee 2015 to 2026
Katrina Harper-Greenwell - Coalition Government appointee 2016 to 2033
Jennifer Hunt - Coalition Government appointee 2016 to 2038

[https://www.ausgovboards.gov.au/boards/fair-work-commission]

Additional members – can be found here.

The real Donald J. Trump tweeting in his preferred language

Дональд Дж. Козырь
@realDonaldTrump

Джефф Сессии честный человек. Он не сказал ничего плохого. Он мог бы отметил свой ответ более точно, но это было явно не ....

6:22 вечера - 2 марта 2017

  

Just because it is beautiful...........(24)

Painted Bunting

Passerina ciris

Male

Home range South-East USA

Photography by: Danita Delimont/Getty Images

Clarence Valley Council: did he jump or was he pushed?

Did Clarence Valley General Manager Scott Greensill jump or was he pushed out the door on 3 March 2017?

Today’s joint statement by Clarence Valley Council Mayor Jim Simmons and Mr. Greensill announcing the general manager's resignation effective 5pm on 10 March 2017 is correct in so far as the resignation occurred.

If one leaves aside the fact that within days of council’s 21 February 2017 ordinary monthly meeting there was a strong rumour abroad that a majority of councillors had formally expressed a view that they had no confidence in the general manager.

If that rumour is true, then the general manager’s position was untenable. He had as near as was possible been politely handed his hat and shown the door.

The upside for the general manager is that he can now afford to take an extended paid holiday before he needs to look for new employment, given his 2015 renegotiated contract still had so long to run and a lump sum payment would have been inevitable.

Brief History

Thursday, 2 March 2017

Clarence Valley Council: a local government history lesson......

Saturday, 4 March 2017

Clarence Valley Council: let's play the guessing game

Clarence Valley Council and General Manager part company on 10 March 2017 by clarencegirl on Scribd

Dear Malcolm, About your clean coal........

Facebook Malcolm Turnbull

23 February 

A letter to Malcolm Turnbull:

Dear Malcolm,

I am a retired power industry engineer with considerable expertise in the asset management, performance and efficiency of coal fired generation and I can assure you emphatically that building a new coal fired power station of any type would be technical and economic insanity. Let me explain why. Capacity Factor is a measure of how much power is actually generated as a percentage of what it could produce if it ran all the time at its nameplate rating. Because of the high capital and fixed costs of coal fired plants you need to achieve a Capacity Factor of more than 85% for all of its 30 year life to be economically viable. Below 70% you lose money and also suffer large efficiency drops and corresponding increases in levels of CO2 and other harmful pollutants. Below 55% the major components of the plant start to fail due to the inevitable increase in thermal cycling of the plants as they ramp up and down or are switched on and off. Do you know the current capacity factor of our existing black coal power stations in the NEM (VIC, NSW, QLD)? I guess no because I had to go through all of the latest annual reports of the generation companies to calculate it. AND IT IS 53%. This is because wind and solar are cheaper (regardless of the RET) and have displaced more expensive coal fired plants in the energy market. (At least we are in front of China where the average CF is 50% for exactly the same reason). So how can we justify a new, very expensive ultra critical coal plant when its power cost will mean it cannot pay for itself, it will not be able to achieve any efficiency improvements or CO2 reductions due to operating at reduced loads and is also likely to have a short life because the exotic metals needed are extremely susceptible to thermal fatigue? You will notice I have not referred to politics or climate change in my discussion, just engineering and economics. I should also point out that it will take ten years to build a new power station and I suspect we don't have that long when we are running our very old power stations with increased thermal cycling. We need to be accelerating storage options, not being distracted by technology that is no longer appropriate to the market.

Wayne Bissett.

 23 February at 17:23 

56 replies

A story of cultural vandalism in three tweets

We put this scarred tree... pic.twitter.com/60wRAZ8Nx2

— Mt Murri Yaama (@handsomemurri) March 3, 2017

...in a cage, so the white ppl wouldn't damage it. pic.twitter.com/AiXnlC4uTO

— Mt Murri Yaama (@handsomemurri) March 3, 2017

Because they had a good crack at this other one near it. pic.twitter.com/PDFIp2Gfi6

— Mt Murri Yaama (@handsomemurri) March 3, 2017

 The lack of respect for indigenous culture and history is an enduring shame.

Australians do not trust banks with their super, 7 out of 10 want a not-for-profit system, Essential Research polling reveals

AAP MediaNet, media release, 3 March 2017:

Australians do not trust banks with their super, 7 out of 10 want not-for-profit system, new polling reveals

Explosive new polling shows that when it comes to superannuation, most Australians don’t trust the big banks and over two-thirds want the system to run on a not-for-profit basis with all returns to members.

The Essential poll of 1000 people, commissioned by Industry Super Australia, has found that only 31% trust that the banks will ensure the superannuation system works in their best interest. This compares to 38% for the Federal Government; 61% for the Fair Work Commission; and 69% for Industry Super Funds.  

Consumers feel strongly that their interests should be the sole focus - 70% believe all super funds should be not-for-profit with all returns to members rather than split with shareholders; just 6% disagree.

Industry Super Australia chief executive, David Whiteley, says the results send a clear message the public want superannuation to work solely in their interests and not as a profit-making opportunity for the banks’ wealth management machines.

“When it comes to super, the banks are legally required to act in the best interest of their customers; most Australians don't believe they do," said Whiteley.

“Consumers know aggressive cross-selling of advice, insurance and super is designed to boost shareholder profits rather than leave them better off.” 

“The banks’ relentless lobbying to remove consumer default protections could result in people ending up in under-performing funds and a nest egg that’s tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars short”.

“Australians have told us what they think – they don’t trust the banks and believe their culture and profit motive are at odds with the purpose of super,” said Whiteley.

It is a sentiment shared by 58% of respondents who believe the banks would use the compulsory nature of super to exploit fund members.

Two thirds of Australians agree that the banks are already too powerful and giving them more of the superannuation market would make the situation worse.

Instead 57% want a small number of high quality super funds run by trusted providers rather than a large menu of bank offerings. 

“Public opinion clearly runs counter to the banks’ efforts to change the super system to suit their vertically integrated business models. Astute policymakers will be listening,” said Whiteley.

The big bank CEOs will appear before a parliamentary inquiry this Friday and early next week. The Standing Committee on Economics’ Review of the Four Major Banks hearings are set for 3, 7, 8 March.

ASIC has recently launched court proceedings against Westpac for a 3-year sales campaign that alleges staff were rewarded bonuses for shifting customers from external super funds into a bank fund. ASIC alleges that Westpac failed its best interests duty to consumers; breached financial licence conditions and Corporations Law and failed to ensure related financial services entities provided services honestly and fairly.

The survey was conducted 15-26 February 2017 and weighted to represent the wider population.

Industry Super Australia provides policy, research and advocacy on behalf of 15 not-for-profit Industry SuperFunds who are the custodians of the retirement savings of five million Australians.