Copy of letter

Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash Attorney-General
Minister for Industrial Relations
By email only

8 February 2022

Dear Minister

Re: Qantas application to terminate enterprise bargaining agreement with long-haul cabin crew

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says workers deserve to be safe at work, backing ACTU calls to ensure worker safety.

Bandt, a former industrial relations lawyer, rejected the claim by some employers that the demands were a threat to business, saying that ensuring workers’ safety is the best way to keep businesses going as the virus continues to spread.

Quotes attributable to Greens leader, Adam Bandt MP:

“If a workplace is unsafe, workers have the right to stop work. 

Greens Leader Adam Bandt, Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Greens Health spokesperson Jordon Steele-John have joined teachers and parents calling for a national COVID Safe Schools action plan as students return to schools in NSW, Victoria and the ACT and public health restrictions are eased across the country.

In response to new research showing $4.6 billion in JobKeeper went to businesses that increased their turnover through the first wave of the Covid pandemic, the Greens have urged other parties to support Greens’ legislation to force JobKeeper profiteers to pay back public money they didn’t need.

The Greens’ Coronavirus Economic Response Package Amendment (Ending JobKeeper Profiteering) Bill 2021 is currently before the Senate.

Quotes attributable to Greens Leader Adam Bandt:

Australian Greens Leader and former industrial relations lawyer, Adam Bandt, has outlined how the radical overhaul at the heart of the IR omnibus bill will entrench insecure work. Bandt says the controversy over the terrible ‘Better Off Overall Test’ change has unfortunately distracted from the extreme nature of other reforms in the bill.
 
“This bill will redefine the Australian labour market,” said Dr Bandt.

The Greens’ moves to outlaw insecure work and protect gig economy workers have received a boost, with the Labor party backing those positions ahead of debate on the government’s anti-worker industrial laws.

Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt says the party’s 9 votes in the Senate will oppose the Government’s industrial relations omnibus Bill. 

“The Greens have a clear position on the government's IR bill. We oppose this bill because it cuts pay and makes job insecurity worse,” said Mr Bandt. 

“The Greens will block this bill in the Senate.

“The frontline workers who helped us through the pandemic deserve a medal, not a pay cut.

“Why would you weaken the ‘better off’ test unless you wanted to make people worse off?

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said the Greens will move a series of amendments to the government’s industrial relations reforms to outlaw insecure work, by introducing a legal presumption that all employment is permanent and ongoing unless there are compelling, exceptional business reasons to the contrary. 

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has said his party will fight moves to weaken the ‘better off overall test’ and welcomed Labor’s support for extending the power of the Fair Work Commission to protect gig-economy workers, a proposal the Greens advanced in a 2018 bill.