Dean Winter responds to news the Greens are withholding support for Labor
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ABC News
43 minutes ago
- ABC News
Uncertainty still surrounds government pay deals with police, teachers, and nurses and midwives
Most people know at least one nurse, midwife, police officer or teacher. They make up a tick over 63 per cent of Queensland's key frontline workforce, and right now the state government is negotiating new pay deals with all of them. Griifith University industrial relations expert Ben French said dealing with three such influential groups all at once put the government in a "tricky spot". The situation is a result of enterprise bargaining agreements "rolling over" during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Now they've all come up at the same time for the new government," Dr French said. It's been tough going for negotiators. The police union has agreed in-principle to a deal, but the government is in conciliation with both the nurses' and the teachers' unions in front of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC). In early August, teachers across the state went on strike for the first time in 16 years. Earlier in the month, nurses and midwives took industrial action by refusing to do tasks not related to critical care. Pandanus Petter from Australian National University's School of Business and Politics said as opposition leader, David Crisafulli was keen to paint himself as someone who would not repeat "the mistakes of the Newman era". "He positioned himself as someone who was not going to radically cut the public service," Dr Petter said. "He was saying, 'You know, what I want to do is empower the public service.' The government has offered an 8 per cent raise over three years to the police and teachers, while nurses and midwives have been offered an 11 per cent wage rise. This "fairly prescriptive model" has come with various add-ons and extras for each industry, Dr French said. He said these one-off payments "that are not part of the actual increase" are a way the government can save money down the track. "If you get a pay rise and you get an increase, it's on the base rate … the next time you come around your base rate is higher and you can build on that," he said, adding bonus payments did not feed into employees' super or overtime. Already those differing extras have caused friction. The Queensland Nurses' and Midwives' Union (QNMU) publicly derided the government for offering some police officers an $8,000 retention bonus over two years. Secretary Sarah Beaman said it was "outrageous" that the government had already struck a "better deal" with the police union after months of negotiating with the QNMU. The nurses and midwives EBA nominally ended on March 31, while the teachers and police ended on June 30. "Does this government have a problem with nurses and midwives?" Ms Beaman asked. Dr French said none of the three deals were set in stone. The state legislation allows for six months of negotiations from the day the EBA nominally ends or three months from the beginning of conciliation. After that, the parties can apply for arbitration, where the QIRC will decide what's fair. In the case of nurses and midwives, who are chasing a 13 per cent wage rise they say will deliver "nation-leading pay", the last scheduled conciliation meeting is September 2. At the behest of QIRC deputy president John Merrell, the QNMU agreed to pause industrial action until then, but said they would take further steps if negotiations failed. The Queensland Teachers' Union sent a letter to members on Thursday, seen by the ABC, confirming they had given the government until the end of the month to come up with a better deal or risk further strike action. QTU vice president Leah Olsen said more work stoppages would be a "last resort" option for the union, adding the union's members did "not take industrial action lightly". "Further strike action during school hours can be avoided if the government delivers a package members see value in," Ms Olsen said. As for the police, while there is an in-principle deal in place, union members still have to vote on whether to approve it next month. "My guess is they will vote it down," Dr French said. Both Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek and Health Minister Tim Nicholls have expressed their commitment to getting deals over the line through the conciliation process. Mr Langbroek said the government met with QTU negotiators 18 times over five months before the conciliation process began. The QNMU said they had met with the government for a total of more than 150 hours before they took industrial action last month. Dr Petter said with an election just gone there was little political risk for the government to come off as "tough but fair" in this round of negotiations. However, if three-year deals were signed all round, the next time they would be negotiating would be in the lead up to the 2028 election.
AU Financial Review
43 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
17 killed in Gaza airstrike; Protests erupt across Israel
The percentage of voters happy with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's performance outnumbers those dissatisfied for the first time in two years, a survey suggests. The Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, indicates Albanese's federal Labor party retains a solid two-party-preferred lead over the coalition of 56 per cent to 44 per cent. The previous Newspoll, taken in July, had Labor ahead by 57 per cent to 43 per cent. The latest survey said Labor's primary vote was unchanged at 36 per cent while the coalition's support rose one percentage point to 30 per cent. The Greens were steady at 12 per cent, One Nation was up one point to nine per cent and the independents and minor parties category dipped two points to 13 per cent. Albanese's previous net approval rating of zero improved in the new poll to plus three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied. It marks Albanese's first positive net approval rating in a Newspoll since September 2023. Coalition leader Sussan Ley's net approval rating is at minus nine, deteriorating from the minus seven result she received in the previous month. About 21 per cent of respondents to the Newspoll indicated it was still too early to judge her performance. On the question of who would be the better prime minister, 51 per cent said Albanese, 31 per cent said Ley and 18 per cent were uncommitted - with the latter option gaining two points since the last Newspoll and the leaders each dropping one point. The survey of 1283 voters was conducted online between August 11 and August 14.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
PM's net approval rating hits two-year high: Newspoll
The percentage of voters happy with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's performance outnumbers those dissatisfied for the first time in two years, a survey suggests. The Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, indicates Mr Albanese's federal Labor party retains a solid two-party-preferred lead over the coalition at 56 per cent to 44 per cent. The previous Newspoll, taken in July, had Labor ahead by 57 per cent to 43 per cent. The latest survey said Labor's primary vote was unchanged at 36 per cent while the coalition's support rose one percentage point to 30 per cent. The Greens were steady on 12 per cent, One Nation was up one point to nine per cent and backing for the independents and minor parties category dipped two points to 13 per cent. Mr Albanese's previous net approval rating of zero improved in the new poll to plus three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied. It marks Mr Albanese's first positive net approval rating in a Newspoll since September 2023. Coalition leader Sussan Ley's net approval rating is at minus nine, deteriorating from the minus seven result she received in the prior month. About 21 per cent of respondents to the Newspoll indicated it was still too early to judge her performance. On the question of who would be the better prime minister, 51 per cent said Mr Albanese, 31 per cent said Ms Ley and 18 per cent were uncommitted - with the latter option gaining two points since the last Newspoll and the leaders each dropping one point. The survey of 1283 voters was conducted online between August 11 and August 14. The percentage of voters happy with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's performance outnumbers those dissatisfied for the first time in two years, a survey suggests. The Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, indicates Mr Albanese's federal Labor party retains a solid two-party-preferred lead over the coalition at 56 per cent to 44 per cent. The previous Newspoll, taken in July, had Labor ahead by 57 per cent to 43 per cent. The latest survey said Labor's primary vote was unchanged at 36 per cent while the coalition's support rose one percentage point to 30 per cent. The Greens were steady on 12 per cent, One Nation was up one point to nine per cent and backing for the independents and minor parties category dipped two points to 13 per cent. Mr Albanese's previous net approval rating of zero improved in the new poll to plus three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied. It marks Mr Albanese's first positive net approval rating in a Newspoll since September 2023. Coalition leader Sussan Ley's net approval rating is at minus nine, deteriorating from the minus seven result she received in the prior month. About 21 per cent of respondents to the Newspoll indicated it was still too early to judge her performance. On the question of who would be the better prime minister, 51 per cent said Mr Albanese, 31 per cent said Ms Ley and 18 per cent were uncommitted - with the latter option gaining two points since the last Newspoll and the leaders each dropping one point. The survey of 1283 voters was conducted online between August 11 and August 14. The percentage of voters happy with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's performance outnumbers those dissatisfied for the first time in two years, a survey suggests. The Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, indicates Mr Albanese's federal Labor party retains a solid two-party-preferred lead over the coalition at 56 per cent to 44 per cent. The previous Newspoll, taken in July, had Labor ahead by 57 per cent to 43 per cent. The latest survey said Labor's primary vote was unchanged at 36 per cent while the coalition's support rose one percentage point to 30 per cent. The Greens were steady on 12 per cent, One Nation was up one point to nine per cent and backing for the independents and minor parties category dipped two points to 13 per cent. Mr Albanese's previous net approval rating of zero improved in the new poll to plus three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied. It marks Mr Albanese's first positive net approval rating in a Newspoll since September 2023. Coalition leader Sussan Ley's net approval rating is at minus nine, deteriorating from the minus seven result she received in the prior month. About 21 per cent of respondents to the Newspoll indicated it was still too early to judge her performance. On the question of who would be the better prime minister, 51 per cent said Mr Albanese, 31 per cent said Ms Ley and 18 per cent were uncommitted - with the latter option gaining two points since the last Newspoll and the leaders each dropping one point. The survey of 1283 voters was conducted online between August 11 and August 14. The percentage of voters happy with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's performance outnumbers those dissatisfied for the first time in two years, a survey suggests. The Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, indicates Mr Albanese's federal Labor party retains a solid two-party-preferred lead over the coalition at 56 per cent to 44 per cent. The previous Newspoll, taken in July, had Labor ahead by 57 per cent to 43 per cent. The latest survey said Labor's primary vote was unchanged at 36 per cent while the coalition's support rose one percentage point to 30 per cent. The Greens were steady on 12 per cent, One Nation was up one point to nine per cent and backing for the independents and minor parties category dipped two points to 13 per cent. Mr Albanese's previous net approval rating of zero improved in the new poll to plus three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied. It marks Mr Albanese's first positive net approval rating in a Newspoll since September 2023. Coalition leader Sussan Ley's net approval rating is at minus nine, deteriorating from the minus seven result she received in the prior month. About 21 per cent of respondents to the Newspoll indicated it was still too early to judge her performance. On the question of who would be the better prime minister, 51 per cent said Mr Albanese, 31 per cent said Ms Ley and 18 per cent were uncommitted - with the latter option gaining two points since the last Newspoll and the leaders each dropping one point. The survey of 1283 voters was conducted online between August 11 and August 14.
