Latest news with #noncompliance
ABC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Fair Work inspectors report rampant workplace breaches in prime horticulture zones
More than 80 per cent of horticulture businesses in Victoria's biggest growing regions were in breach of laws to protect workers, inspectors have found, after a nationwide crackdown on the sector. In a three-year investigation, Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) inspectors also found widespread breaches in prime horticulture areas in NSW. The report, released on Wednesday, singled out labour hire firms as the worst offenders, despite states increasingly regulating the sector. It says Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley regions had the highest rate of overall non-compliance, with inspectors finding 83 per cent of employers failed to meet obligations under the Fair Work Act. The next-worst breach rates were in NSW's Riverina (72 per cent), Victoria's Sunraysia and Shepparton regions (70 per cent and 63 per cent respectively), and Coffs Harbour and Grafton in NSW (61 per cent). Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said inspectors visited 360 farms, investigated 512 businesses during crop seasons and issued $760,405 in fines to employers who failed to meet their pay slip and record-keeping obligations. She also said labour hire firms used by farmers were most resistant to workplace laws, with 91 per cent of 166 infringement notices going to labour providers. "The vast majority of the wrongdoers are labour hire employers and they are often quite difficult to pin down," Ms Booth said. "The workers themselves often don't know who their employer is and [they are] just generally being treated very badly. "This is particularly troubling because many of these workers are migrants. They are often temporary visa holders." However, there were some positive signs from the three-year campaign. Queensland's Wide Bay and Moreton Bay were the nation's most compliant, with only 18 per cent and 8 per cent failing to follow the law, which was a turnaround from recent years. Ms Booth said most farmers in these areas directly employed staff rather than using labour hire, and regulator Queensland Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit was also in place, plus there had been leadership from employer groups via the Fair Farms programs, which audits businesses. Fair Farms, which runs training and certification and help growers improve their workplace compliance, was set up by farmer group Growcom with support from the Fair Work Ombudsman, the federal Department of Agriculture and horticulture group AUSVEG. Victoria also has a Labour Hire Authority and labour hire licensing schemes exist in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, which works with these agencies to stamp out lawbreakers. Ms Booth also said in January the FWO signed an enforceable undertaking with RJ Cornish & Co Pty Ltd, a fruit grower in Victoria's Goulburn Valley, following unlawful wage deductions of nearly $127,000 from 112 employees. The company was inspected in March last year as part of the regulator's horticulture strategy. The horticulture strategy also included more than 96 joint site inspections with other regulators, including Australian Border Force, Australian Taxation Office and WorkCover Queensland.
The Independent
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
UN nuclear agency members draft resolution accusing Iran of failing to meet obligations
Western nations are planning to table a resolution at a meeting of the U.N.'s nuclear agency that will find Iran in non-compliance with its so-called safeguards obligations for the first time in 20 years, a senior western diplomat said Thursday. The move comes at a sensitive time as U.S. President Donald Trump 's administration seeks to reach a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program. The two sides have held several rounds of talks, so far without agreement. The draft resolution will be jointly tabled by France, the U.K. and Germany, known as the E3, together with the United States, the senior Western diplomat said. Consulting European allies In Washington, the State Department said the Trump administration was consulting with European allies about the next step. 'We are coordinating with our partners on our posture for the June 9-13 IAEA Board of Governors meeting and are considering all of our options,' the department said. 'We continue to have serious concerns about Iran's nuclear program and its longstanding failure to uphold its safeguards obligations.' In an April 2024 report, the U.S. State Department assessed that Iran's 'unwillingness to provide adequate responses to the IAEA's questions regarding potential undeclared nuclear material and activities" constitutes "a violation of its obligation to accept safeguards under Article III of the NPT Treaty." The draft resolution, which was seen by The Associated Press, says: 'Iran's many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran ... constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement.' The draft resolution furthermore finds that the IAEA's 'inability ... to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful gives rise to questions that are within the competence of the United Nations Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.' It requests IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi 'to continue his efforts to implement this and previous resolutions and to report again, including any further developments on the issues." Board members could suggest amendments The text of the draft may change before it is formally tabled, as board members have the opportunity to suggest amendments. Under the so-called safeguards obligations, that are part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally bound to declare all nuclear material and activities and allow IAEA inspectors to verify that none of it is being diverted from peaceful uses. In the IAEA's 'comprehensive report' that was circulated among members states last weekend, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said that Iran's cooperation with the agency has 'been less than satisfactory' when it comes to uranium traces discovered by agency inspectors at several locations in Iran that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites. The IAEA has been seeking answers from Iran regarding the origin and current location of the nuclear material since 2019. Western officials suspect that the uranium traces discovered by the IAEA could provide evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran denies having nuclear weapons program Iran denies ever having had a nuclear weapons program and says its program is entirely peaceful. The senior Western diplomat called the resolution a 'serious step,' but added that western nations are 'not closing the door to diplomacy on this issue.' 'The objective of the resolution is for Iran to resolve the issue,' the source added, which is why the resolution will not immediately refer Iran's non-compliance to the U.N. Security Council to consider triggering more sanctions. 'They will have a window to finally comply and respond to all the requests that have been made over the last six years.' The board of governors 'stresses its support for a diplomatic solution to the problems posed by the Iranian nuclear programme, leading to an agreement that addresses all international concerns related to Iran's nuclear activities, encouraging all parties to constructively engage in diplomacy,' the draft resolution reads. However, if Iran fails to cooperate, an extraordinary IAEA board meeting will likely be held in the summer, during which another resolution could get passed that will refer the issue to the Security Council, the senior diplomat said. The three European nations have threatened in the past to reinstate sanctions that have been lifted under the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which expires on Oct. 18. Iran has previously retaliated to resolutions passed by the agency's board by further expanding its nuclear program and banning inspectors. Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned the IAEA against taking any 'politically-motivated action' by some board members, as this could undermine cooperation between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, he wrote in a post on X. —- The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. —-
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The EU's Digital Markets Act Demands That Apple Agree To Its Demise
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 25: EU Commissioner for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age - Executive Vice ... More President Margrethe Vestager talks to media about non-compliance investigations against Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on March 25, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet's rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple's rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta's "pay or consent model". The Commission suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA. () Apple has to keep getting the future right. It's that simple. The present of business is the past, which means an inability to consistently see what's ahead is the path to decline. This persistent, ruthless truth rates prominent mention as the EU foists the Digital Market Act (DMA) on Apple. Precisely because Apple is on top, CEO Tim Cook and his team are under relentless pressure not to merely meet the needs of present and future customers, but lead them. The latter is a necessary pre-condition of commercial success, but also a reminder of the ephemeral quality of it. Particularly in consumer technology. Since the profits for the winners in this space are so immense, the challenges associated with remaining a winner are intensely grueling. Imagine having to continually see around the proverbial corner in pursuit of what's next so that buyers will be eager to purchase what's next. In a sports sense it's the equivalent of picking not this year's World Series winner, but the one five or ten years from now. It's something to keep in mind as the EU continues to harass Apple with demands that it make Apple products more compatible and operable with products of other companies, including rivals. Stop and think about the superfluity, along with the impossibility of such demands. Let's start with their superfluous nature. Exactly because Apple is working feverishly to anticipate and lead the needs of arguably the world's most discerning customer base, no force is required for it to work closely with others. As evidenced by the myriad non-Apple products and services that can already be found on Apple products, Apple is very much in the business of scanning the wide array of known and unknown innovators out there with an eye on working alongside them in order to create the ultimate user experience for existing and would-be customers. Really, what choice does it have? In asking the question, it's useful for readers to pick up their iPhone, iPad, or much more useful, for them to take a look at their smartphones and computers that aren't made by Apple. To do so is to see that stasis is the path to commoditization. What's hot today is routinely behind the times tomorrow as competitors commoditize what used to be sui generis. Which is once again a sign that Apple doesn't need the DMA to avail itself of the many great advances taking place outside of Apple, and that are being created by competitors or would-be competitors. A desire to maintain its perch at the top means that if there's someone out there worth it for Apple to work with, the DMA won't be the instigator. Which brings us to the impossible aspect of the DMA. Implicit in the law is that there are some rivals and would-be partners that Apple is not eagerly trying to work with. Well, yes. A blinding glimpse of the obvious yes. Apple is discerning about those it works with, by necessity. See above. Apple is toiling tirelessly to avoid the commoditization that would end its reign at the top of the technology pyramid. It's really that simple. For Apple to pursue compatibility or operability with all who want to be associated with Apple based on EU force would be for Apple to agree to its own rather rapid demise. No thanks.
