2 September | Albanese Celebrates 100 Days in Office

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese celebrated his first 100 days in office this week and if published polling is anything to go by, the Labor Government is off to a strong start.

In a speech to the National Press Club on Monday, Albanese paraded his reform and renewal agenda as the entire country continues to adjust to life post-COVID.

Inflation is up, interest rates are rising and while unemployment is low, skills shortages are rife in many sectors while families continue to battle the rising cost of living.

Albanese pointed to his Government’s early progress on lifting the emissions reduction target, backing an increase to the minimum wage, delivering flood support and moving on paid domestic violence leave.

The Prime Minister, Deputy Leader Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have all hit the ground running on international matters, while National Cabinet appears to be taking on a much less activist role as COVID concerns diminish.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s unprecedented decision to secretly take on shared ministerial responsibility for several key portfolios during the pandemic has resulted in a formal inquiry.

Unlike the negotiations required to get generally like-minded parties and Independents to agree to legislation on emissions reduction, industrial relations remains a far more complex and difficult task for the Albanese Government.

Apart from a landslide election win in 2007, in no small part due to the ACTU’s highly successful Your Rights At Work campaign against John Howard’s WorkChoices, Albanese won majority Labor government for the first time since the Hawke/Keating era.

The trade union movement has built up a very long wishlist – including a push for multi-employer bargaining and improvements to enterprise bargaining, alongside extensive skills and training packages.

The business community remains wary, particularly if the right to take protected industrial action would be allowed to spread across multiple employers in the same industry.

Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke softened the Government’s position on changes to the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT), while there will likely be changes to the Fair Work Act to allow the Fair Work Commission to intervene in prolonged disputes.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil on Friday announced Australia’s permanent migration cap will be increased by 35,000 to 195,000 for this financial year, alongside additional resources for speeding up visa processing.

There is a general consensus that we face severe skills shortages after the prolonged lockdowns associated with COVID.

But questions surrounding what types of workers we need, the skills they already have, recognition of those skills, how long people can stay and their rates of pay remain matters of debate.

There are also politically complex associated issues surrounding access to services and ensuring an adequate supply of housing.

O’Neil said the Government’s focus is more on permanent migration and pathways to citizenship, rather than temporary migration.

With the announcements from the Jobs and Skills Summit now out of the way, the hard work of gaining agreement from businesses, their peak bodies, trade unions, political opponents and the Parliament begins.