COSBOA slams senators after shock Closing Loopholes Bill split

Australia’s most prominent small business lobby has chastised Senate crossbenchers over a last-minute deal that saw “radical” industrial relations reforms pass into law this month.

On December 7, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke brokered a deal with key Senate crossbenchers, including Independents David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, that saw select elements of the contentious Closing Loopholes Bill pass into law.

As a result, ‘same job, same pay’ rules in the labour hire sector will come into effect, along with the criminalisation of wage theft and superannuation theft, among other reforms.

The split-up Bill’s passage on the last Parliamentary sitting day of the year came as a surprise to observers, given Burke’s earlier insistence that the Bill would not be split up and passed in two phases.

The broad Closing Loopholes package is also the subject of a Senate committee review, which is set to table its findings in February.

In a Tuesday letter to senators, first obtained by The Australian, senior figures within the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) rue what they see as a lack of consultation over the controversial industrial relations reforms.

The ongoing Senate committee review posed a “glimmer of hope” that small business concerns would be considered in depth, said COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat and chairman Matthew Addison.

However, the “abrupt” manner in which the first half of the Bill was split and passed “undermines the goodwill” developed between the small business lobby and senators, they added.

The ongoing review is not the only avenue for the small business lobby to share its views on the proposed legislation.

Throughout the year, COSBOA participated in prior Senate committee consultations over the Bill, and Achterstraat spoke at a small business breakfast event co-hosted by Senator Pocock.

COSBOA even offered its support to Senator Pocock and Lambie’s initial plan to split off four non-contentious elements from the Closing Loopholes, instead of the jumbo-sized package that passed this month.

But the new letter makes clear that COSBOA hoped for further opportunities to lay out its views.

The Australian reports that COSBOA has doubled down on its request for costings to establish the financial consequences of subjecting small businesses to the new industrial relations rules.

COSBOA is also pushing for a significant rethink of the Bill’s remaining elements, like its gig economy proposals and its plan to establish a new, formal definition of casual work.

While the Bill’s passage was clearly an unwelcome surprise to the small business lobby, key senators say they brokered extra support for small businesses as part of the deal with Labor.

Senator Lambie negotiated for extra funding to the Fair Work Ombudsman to engage with small businesses about their obligations under the Bill, to ensure they are not flying blind.

SmartCompany has contacted COSBOA for comment.