Even though 140 people attended Anthony Albanese’s jobs and skills conference, it wasn’t all fun and games for them.
As they listened to innumerable speeches in the Parliament House Great Hall on Thursday and Friday, many of Australia’s most prominent commercial, political, and union leaders sometimes seemed stressed – and even just bored.
Anthony Pratt, the $15 billion-dollar CEO of Visy Packaging, was once pictured with his head in his hands and his eyes closed.
Under-pressure While chief scientist Cathy Foley looked longingly into the distance, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was seen fiddling with his phone.
The mood during the summit was so antiseptic that AFR Political Editor Phil Coorey compared it to a two-day episode of the sometimes dry ABC panel programme The Drum debating current events.
Peter Dutton, the leader of the opposition, said he avoided boredom by missing the conference entirely.
It’s not my idea of a great day out to be sitting there with some CFMEU thug, he said.
The administration has taken efforts to emphasise that the summit did produce some important results, however.
The biggest of them was the declaration that Australia would take in 35,000 more permanent migrants this fiscal year, bringing the total to 195,000, in an effort to support companies and sectors experiencing severe staff shortages and lessen dependence on temporary workers.
The COVID-19 outbreak, together with a mass migration of foreign students and seasonal employees, forced the country’s borders to remain closed for over two years, leaving companies scrambling to recruit personnel to stay viable.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on the margins of the summit: “It makes no sense to bring people in, have them for a few years, then get a fresh cohort in to adjust to the Australian work environment.”
“We want individuals to get a mortgage, have a family, and become a part of the Australian family.” We all have a migration tale.
The increase will go into effect for the current fiscal year that ends in June 2023, bringing Australia’s immigration objective broadly in line with the 190,000 annual ceiling that was in place from 2013 to 2019.
Just a few months before the creation of COVID-19, that threshold was reduced by 15% to 160,000 in an effort to reduce urban congestion.
Australia’s unemployment rate is at 3.4%, which is close to a 50-year low, but labour shortages have fueled skyrocketing inflation that has lowered real earnings.
“Covid is handing us an opportunity to change our immigration system that we will never get back,” says Covid. Clare O’Neil, the minister of home affairs, said during the summit, “I want us to take that opportunity.”
What was said at the summit?
1. Accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE spaces and an extra $1 billion in combined Federal-State financing for fee-free TAFE in 2023;
2. A one-time income credit that allows Age Pensioners who choose to work to earn an extra $4,000 throughout the course of this fiscal year without affecting their pension;
3. using the $575 million in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility more nimbly to invest in social and affordable housing while securing funding from private sources such as superannuation funds;
4. Modernizing Australia’s workplace relations rules, notably by ensuring that all enterprises and employees may participate in negotiations;
5. Modifying the Fair Work Act to reinforce protections against harassment and discrimination for employees and to increase access to flexible working arrangements;
6. Increasing women’s, First Nations’, regional Australians’, and people of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds’ access to jobs and training pathways, including equity targets for training places, 1,000 digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service, and other measures to lower employment barriers;
7. A 195,000 permanent migration programme cap increase in 2022–2023 to deal with the severe and widespread labour shortages; and
8. Increasing money to clear the backlog of visas, extending visas to foreign students, easing limits on their employment, and strengthening the pipeline of talented workers
Tony Burke, the minister of labour, outlined problems with the Fair Work Act that he planned to fix right away.
These included facilitating easier access to flexible work schedules and unpaid parental leave so that families could divide up work and childcare duties.
The “better off overall” measure has to be “simple, adaptable, and equitable,” according to Mr. Burke.
In order to address challenges in the construction sector, such as mental health and safety concerns, the government has committed to creating a forum to bring together unions, corporations, and the government.
He mentioned areas where work is still being done, including enhancing the rewards programme.
The industrial relations system is failing both corporations and employees, according to both business organisations and unions, but the likelihood of reviving multi-sector bargaining is still a sticking point.
Australian Council of Trade Unions leader Sally McManus said that in addition to business bargaining, the nation required new, contemporary choices, such as multi-employer or sector-wide negotiating, to move wages.
Tim Reed, president of the Business Council of Australia, reaffirmed the group’s determination to concentrate on addressing negotiating at the company level.
“We need to continually obtain productivity increases,” he continued, “if we genuinely want to see real wages increasing on a sustainable basis.”
In the meanwhile, a committee has been formed to bring together the government, unions, and the agricultural industry in an effort to address the dilemma of a labour shortage.
Murray Watt, the minister of agriculture, announced the partnership’s formation on Friday. It will start moving some of the agreements from the jobs and skills summit forward to make sure the sector receives its “due share.”
In order to address the difficulties facing the industry, Senator Watt said it was crucial to carry on the summit’s cooperative attitude.
“This will ensure that farmers can find the people they need and that agricultural workers are appreciated and safeguarded in their job,” the statement reads.
Fiona Simson, head of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), thanked the government for its collaborative approach but asserted that the demands of the industry wouldn’t be met by the extra 9,000 regional positions contained in the removal of the permanent skilled migrant restriction.
It’s not (enough), but we must continue to concentrate on the results, she added.
After gender equality in the workplace was highlighted on the first day, Treasurer Jim Chalmers disqualified moving forward the government’s iconic childcare programme from mid-2023 to encourage women to enter the workforce sooner.
According to him, the untapped economic potential of Australian women, who would work harder and earn more money if we made it simpler for them to do so, was one of the major topics of the employment summit.
The fact is that we cannot afford to support some of these ideas sooner than we can, therefore it will instead start in July as planned.
Jim Chalmers, the Australian Treasurer, makes a concluding statement at the Jobs and Skills Summit.