‘Simply can't do it': Allan government's proposed work form home law branded ‘political stunt' it does not have power to implement
Premier Jacinta Allan has announced plans to make the ability to work from home two days per week a legal right, with the legislation to be introduced ahead of the 2026 Victorian election.
However, Australian Industry Group CEO Inness Willox branded the move a 'political stunt' designed to capitalise on the pro-work from home sentiments which helped deliver Labor its landslide election victory at the May federal election.
"It's hard not to think that the eyes are firmly on November 2026 with the Victorian Government here and they're trying to basically suck people in,' he said.
'It isn't a serious exercise at all. It's a little bit of snake oil peddling by the Premier and her cabinet. They're offering a pipe dream to what they hope are gullible people... (who will think) they will be able to work from home two days a week."
While Labor is yet to reveal the precise details of its proposal, the Victorian government is reportedly planning to implement its plan using the state's Equal Opportunity Act.
According to Mr Willox, though, the Victorian government does not have the legal power to implement its proposal.
'The Victorian Government has no legal right to meddle in this. They have no authority to order private sector workers back to work. They just simply can't do it,' he said.
'Victoria ceded their powers and responsibilities to the Commonwealth in 1995 when it comes to workplace relations, so they've got nowhere to go here.'
The Australian Industry Group CEO said work from home arrangements were routinely worked out between businesses and their workforces and there was no need for the government's proposal.
'Different workplaces have different arrangements depending on the needs of the business and that's what the Fair Work Commission works on by the federal law. That's what business is doing, that's what employees are doing," he said.
'This is a solution in search of a problem.'
Mr Willox also claimed if the government were able to implement its proposal it would have 'enormous' consequences for Victorian workers and the Victorian economy, with businesses likely to move their operations to other states.
'Victoria is already the highest taxing state for business, it's the worst compliance state for business and what this sends out is a message that Victoria is not open for business, that it's closed for business,' he said.
'It's the last thing the state needs. It's the last thing the country needs.'
Citing Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock's warning Australians' living standards were under threat from low productivity growth, Mr Willox said ideas like the Allan government's work from home proposal would make things worse.
'If this sort of decision goes ahead, things are just going to get worse,' he said.
'We're going to be talking about declining living standards, not about improving things. It's a huge risk here for the national economy, but particularly for Victoria. It's a bit of a sham and a shambles, quite frankly.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
21 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Victoria is the nation's debt dunce but the competition is hotting up
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has previously indicated she is up for a conversation about how to broaden the tax base of states that don't have access to lucrative resource royalties. It may surprise some to learn that if you mention vertical fiscal imbalance, the premier can talk the leg off a chair. She also understands the urgency. Although a national agreement on health funding – the biggest expense items within her government's budget – commits the Commonwealth to eventually provide what the states consider a fair share, that day is still 10 years away. In the meantime, the state must find savings elsewhere or keep borrowing to make up the shortfall. This year the funding gap is $1.6 billion in a $22 billion health budget. (This column's earlier, unsolicited advice for the premier to dump her pet infrastructure project, the Suburban Rail Loop, has so far gone unheeded.) The state premiers didn't make it onto Chalmers' guest list and state/federal finances aren't on the agenda of his three-day powwow in Canberra next week. Eslake doesn't criticise these omissions from an already jam-packed roundtable program but he wonders how bad things need to get before Australia turns its mind to the thorny problem of rebalancing how money is spent and how revenue is raised across the Commonwealth. 'I think federal/state financial relations is an important issue, but I don't have a lot of company,' he laments. So, what exactly is this $900 billion elephant? According to the latest budget figures compiled by S&P Global Ratings, an international rating company that keeps a close eye on the fiscal position of the federal and state governments, this is the combined, gross debt of Australian states and territories forecast for the end of this decade. If we include the gross debt forecast to be on the federal government's own books by that stage, Australia's debt mountain will reach a $2.1 trillion base camp by June 30, 2029 along the way to a still unknown peak. Victoria, by its own budget figures, is the most indebted state in Australia. The $213 billion gross debt it has amassed as of July 1 this year represents nearly one third of the total debt currently owed by all states and territories combined. The best news for Victoria is that, in its push towards fiscal profligacy, it has some serious competition from Queensland and Tasmania. S&P lead analyst Martin Foo says while Victoria still has the weakest balance sheet of all state and territory governments, its raft of new property and payroll taxes unpopular with business has at least stabilised its fiscal position. 'We have pointed out consistently that a lot of the fiscal challenges Australia faces right now are at the state level, rather than federal level,' he says. 'Victoria has been the focus of attention for the last couple of years. Maybe it has flown under the radar a bit but some of the mid-sized and smaller states, particularly Tasmania and Queensland, are accumulating debt at a very rapid pace.' Eslake reckons his home state of Tasmania, which remains without a functioning government after two elections in the space of 15 months, already deserves Victoria's mantle as Australia's fiscal dunce. In 2019, Tasmania's gross debt was just $3.2 billion. That figure is forecast to treble this year and to increase more than six-fold from its pre-pandemic level by 2029. Loading Queensland is sharply accelerating the amount of debt it is taking on, with last year's figure of $106.6 billion forecast to nearly double by the end of the decade as the state prepares for the 2032 Olympics. Although these numbers look scarier the further you look into the future, the source of the problem is more immediate. The S&P figures show that in the last financial year, the states and territories posted a combined cash deficit of $55 billion.
Sydney Morning Herald
21 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
We've worked hard, got an education, found jobs. But it's not enough
Younger Australians have done what society told us to do. We've worked hard, got an education, and found jobs. Yet, that has not been enough for teachers, nurses, mechanics and countless other workers to achieve financial security. The social contract, the idea that a job is enough to feed and house a family, has been lost. A recent episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast highlighted a vital debate we need to have. It featured rockstar British economist Gary Stevenson and Daniel Priestley, an acclaimed Australian serial entrepreneur. The host, Steven Bartlett, asked both men what advice they would give to young people. Priestley suggested that we focus on entrepreneurship, as the digital economy offers incredible opportunities to create wealth. Stevenson disagreed, arguing that this advice is harmful because, if you can't get ahead, then it must be your fault. Instead, the economic problems we face are structural. Without reforming how our economy works, Stevenson argued, financial and business advice is like giving out stock tips on the Titanic. The most common story we do hear is the one promoted by Priestley, about individual financial success. It's pushed by social media finfluencers, tech bros, and self-help gurus who claim that the pathway to economic security is through speculative property investing, starting a dropshipping business, or investing in the latest cryptocurrency. Movements like 'girlboss' and 'quiet quitting' have sent the message that you have to save yourself in these tough economic times. The key to the social contract working, in whatever form, is that people feel their efforts are rewarded and that they believe the contract is fair. The contract, then, is hanging by a thread. The cultural dominance of individualism, however, perpetuates an economic system that is harming us. It means that avenues for collective action, such as union membership, political party involvement, and volunteering, are in decline. Policy debates pit winners against losers without considering what's best for everyone, and the government and its tax and transfer system are cast as a 'burden'. Loading In contrast, the postwar version of the social contract promoted the idea that, in return for contributing through work, care, and paying taxes, individuals had rights to essentials such as healthcare, housing, and employment security. You could find a stable job paying enough to feed and house your family, retire with a pension, and be assured that your children would have it better. A second version of the social contract was adopted in the 1980s and 1990s. It presented a more individualistic vision aimed at removing the 'shackles' of taxation and regulation. Tax rates on the wealthy were reduced, public services privatised and superannuation introduced to prioritise individual responsibility and private wealth accumulation.
Sydney Morning Herald
21 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
What's it like to have a son who does MMA? Ask our deputy PM
Richard Marles, 58, is the deputy prime minister and defence minister. His oldest son, Sam, 28, is a mixed martial arts fighter and trainer who had the biggest bout of his career on the night of this year's federal election. Sam: I idolised Dad when I was young. My parents were divorced, and I'd spend a few days with Mum [Lisa Neville, a former Labor minister in the Victorian government], then a couple of days with Dad. They both had very busy, high-pressure jobs, so there wasn't too much consistency in where I'd be. I had to go with the flow a little bit. I always looked forward to going to see Dad. He loves golf and I played with him a lot. It was one of the things that kept us close. I remember Dad's reaction when I got my first birdie. I was only about seven and I holed a putt from maybe 30 feet. Dad was jumping up and down. He ran over and gave me this big hug. As a son, you want to impress your dad; you want his validation. And golf gave me that. I'm sure he'd have loved me to become a professional golfer. It wasn't as if he pressured me to do that – he was never a pushy dad – but I stuck with golf a bit longer than I otherwise would have because I was searching for Dad's approval. When I made the transition to mixed martial arts, he was a bit concerned. I sat both my parents down and said, 'I'm going to pursue this.' At first, they didn't really understand it. They maybe didn't believe this was really a potential career path. They looked at me like I was crazy. But, over time, they started to get on board and actually became quite supportive. I think they can see it's been a positive influence on my life. 'I don't cry too often – he's more of a cryer – but there were definitely a few tears shed during that call.' Sam Marles I'm someone who needs to move. I'm very ADHD; I've been like that since I was a kid. Sitting at a desk like my parents do has never been something I'm good at. I like the description of mixed martial arts as high-level problem-solving with dire consequences. It's a very free form of combat sport. Boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, kickboxing: it combines everything. I love it, and I really like the people I'm around in the gym. I probably didn't fit into the golf scene as well. Dad's a passionate person. The similarity between us is that we're both very driven. We're both obsessed with what we do, even if we've taken very different paths. At times in my life, I didn't have a lot of appreciation for the path he chose, and I'm sure that, at the beginning, the path I've chosen put a lot of stress on him. But we actually get along incredibly well. I can talk to Dad for hours; I love having conversations with him. After I won the fight on election night [on May 3], I called him straight away, but he must have been busy doing interviews. I went off and hung out with some people, then when I got back to the hotel room, I had about six missed calls from him. When we finally spoke on the phone, it was a pretty special moment. I don't cry too often – he's more of a cryer – but there were definitely a few tears shed during that call. It felt like everything had come together, and everything made sense.
