Industry News

The Executive and full council of Unions NSW has voted to accept Michael Williamson's resignation as Vice President, and also to suspend the Health Services Union's affiliation until governance issues can be resolved.

Mr Williamson was asked to resign last week, amid ongoing negative publicity about the Health Services Union leadership spilling over to affect the reputation of the broader union movement.

Unions NSW Secretary Mark Lennon noted Mr Williamson's resignation.

Further, he said the suspension of the HSU East branch sent a clear message about appropriate behaviour and governance for the NSW trade union movement.

"Six hundred thousand working people across NSW rely on a strong and vibrant trade union movement to represent their interests in the workplace and tonight's decision allows us to get on with the job of representing working people,” Mr Lennon said.

Mr Williamson has also resigned as a Unions NSW representative on the board of First State Super.

"In due course, Unions NSW hopes to restore the Health Services Union to full affiliation, but only once we are satisfied that all governance issues have been rectified," Mr Lennon said.

"We want to send a clear message to HSU members that they have our full support as we continue to defend their workplace rights and conditions."

The Australian Industry Group (AI Group) has released the March edition of its Australian Performance of Construction Index in conjunction with the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

The index shows that the sector has risen just 0.6 points to 36.2 in March. Poor demand and subdued conditions, particularly in the residential and commercial construction sub-sectors, continued in the month with house building falling to its lowest level in six months. Reduced workloads saw employment levels remain in negative territory and the new orders sub-index has now been contracting for 22 months.

The key findings are:

• The latest Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®) in conjunction with the Housing Industry Association, was broadly unchanged in March - up just 0.6 points to 36.2 (readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity with the distance from 50 indicative of the strength of the decrease).
• March marks the 22nd consecutive month that the national construction sector has been in negative territory.
• Subdued demand, tight credit conditions, strong competition for available work and a lack of new projects hampered growth in March.
• Weakness was particularly pronounced in the house building (30.3), apartments (30.5) and commercial construction (35.5) sub-sectors.
• Engineering construction was 41.2 in the month.
• The new orders sub-index was again in the red - down 1.0 points to 33.2.
• Employment levels continued to fall in line with decreasing workloads, the sub-index registered 39.4 in March.

"There is an unequivocal deterioration underway in the non-resource domestic economy in 2012. As a bell-weather industry, residential construction is clearly highlighting this fact with the rate of decline in the detached house and apartment sub-indices of the Australian PCI® accelerating in March. Furthermore, new orders for house building fell in March to their lowest level in six months. It was time to act some time ago, but nothing has happened. A 50 basis point cut in interest rates is required in May, while Federal and state governments need to get on with the job of boosting new housing supply," Housing Industry Association Chief Economist, Harley Dale, said. 

The Australian Industry Group (AI Group) has urged the Federal and State Governments to place a greater priority on skills and training at the upcoming Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting, saying the adaption of a national approach to training is a necessity.  

"For too long our training systems have been plagued by inconsistent approaches, funding models and regulations, variable and often unacceptable levels of quality and unacceptably low levels of completion," CEO Designate Innes Willox said.

"Industry is particularly supportive of the thrust of the Skills for all Australians package that forms the basis for the proposed new Commonwealth and State funding agreement. This includes the 'HECS for skills' initiative which would improve equity and remove the disincentive of upfront fees for diplomas and advanced diplomas."

The group has expressed concerns over the transparency and accountability in the training system, saying it frustrates employers and impedes growth.

"Quality remains a serious concern for industry and we need to see a significant lift in the quality across the sector. Lifting the quality requirements of providers in order to access income contingent loans would be an important step in this direction. Equally the introduction of independent validation of training provider's assessments would be a major achievement and that should deliver greater confidence in outcomes for both students and employers," Mr Willox said. 

The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) has announced it will hosting its contact centre in the Gold Coast, reversing an earlier decision to have the service outsourced.

The customer contact centre will be located at Varsity Lakes and is set to begin taking calls in the second half of this year.

“Today’s announcement is great news as the customer contact centre has capacity to employ around 130 people, of which 100 will be employed within 12 months,” NBN Co’s Head of Quality Mike Kaiser said.

“The customer contact centre will play an important role in communicating how the network is being built and the steps householders and business owners will need to take to connect to the NBN and to move across from older infrastructure to Australia’s brand new telecommunications network.

“The new centre will handle the anticipated escalation in NBN queries from the general public, property developers and builders now that the company has begun large-scale rollout of Australia’s largest infrastructure project,” he said.

Gold Coast Acting Mayor Daphne McDonald welcomed the announcement.

"Hot on the back of the news the Gold Coast has been included in the NBN’s three year rollout, this is another win for the Gold Coast with the call centre bringing 100 new jobs to the city in the next 12 months,” Ms McDonald said. 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced it will not oppose Foxtel's acquisition bid  for Austar after the Commission accepted court-enforceable undertakings from Foxtel.

The undertakings will prevent Foxtel from acquiring exclusive internet protocol television (IPTV) rights for a 'range of attractive television program and movie content', including:

• Linear channels supplied by independent content suppliers, including  more than 60 linear channels that are currently broadcast by FOXTEL and many more that are broadcast internationally
• Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) rights to current or past seasons of television programs that form part of a linear channel supplied by an independent content supplier
• Movie linear channels (or movies for inclusion in a linear channel) from more than 50% of the eight major movie studios or more than 50% of the eight specified independent movie studios
• SVOD rights to movies, except for an 18 month window in relation to the movie studios from which FOXTEL is not prohibited from acquiring exclusive linear rights.

The ACCC first voiced its concerns over the planned acquisition because of Telstra's 50 per cent stake in Foxetel and Telstra’s ability post merger to acquire preferential access to Austar’s existing subscriber base in combination with its existing content delivery infrastructure in regional areas. This will allow Telstra to offer a superior “triple play” of fixed voice, broadband and IPTV services.

“The proposed acquisition would bring together the two main subscription TV industry players in Australia each with a substantial customer base and significant access to key content. This would in turn give Telstra, FOXTEL's largest shareholder, greater market power in regional fixed broadband and telephony markets,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

“By reducing content exclusivity, the undertakings will lower barriers to entry and promote new and effective competition in metropolitan and regional telecommunications and subscription television markets.”

“Taking into account the undertaking which has been offered by FOXTEL, the ACCC is satisfied that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition.” Mr Sims said.

The Federal Government has announced it has accepted all 21 proposals and recommendations of October's Jobs Forum, saying it will introduce stronger Australian Industry Participation rules for the country’s major private sector and government-funded projects.

The Minister for Industry and Innovation, Greg Combet, said the Government will release new requirements aimed at improving  opportunities for local suppliers and service providers to win contracts on large construction, resources and infrastructure developments.

The Government has now accepted all 21 recommendations from a Working Group established to report on reforms to Australian Industry Participation requirements. The Working Group included stakeholders from industry, unions and the WA Government.

Mr Combet said the Federal Government will now:

• Extend Australian Industry Participation requirements to projects funded by Australian Government grants of more than $20 million;
• Work with State and Territory Governments to ensure local industry has full, fair and reasonable opportunities on projects receiving significant federal funding;
• Increase scrutiny of the implementation of Australian Industry Participation Plans (AIP Plans), particularly for private sector projects valued at more than $2 billion that seek tariff concessions from the Enhanced Project By‑law Scheme (EPBS);
•  Require major projects to publish summaries of AIP Plans, including details on how they will seek and use information on Australian industry capabilities and how they will communicate opportunities to local suppliers.

“This will improve the opportunities for Australian manufacturers, construction firms and service providers to win work on some of the biggest projects in the country,” Mr Combet said.

Formal guidance material for grant agreements and grantees, procurement officers, tenderers and EPBS applicants will be available from 1 July 2012. EPBS applicants will have a further three month transition period.
 
More information is available at www.aip.gov.au

Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was steady at 5.2 per cent in March, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today. 

The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 44,000 to 11,491,200 in March. The increase in employment was driven by increased full-time employment, up 15,800 people to 8,080,400, and part-time employment, up 28,200 people to 3,410,900. The increase in employment was driven by an increase in both male and female full-time and part-time employment.

The number of people unemployed decreased by 3,200 people to 629,100 in March, the ABS reported.

The ABS monthly aggregate hours worked series showed an increase in March, up 9.5 million hours to 1,624.2 million hours.

The ABS reported an increase in the labour force participation rate of 0.2 percentage points in March to 65.4 per cent.

The results of the Annual Seasonal Reanalysis were released in the March 2012 publication. This annual review did not result in any significant changes to published estimates. A feature article in the publication - 'Annual Seasonal Reanalysis' - explains the review.

More details are in the March 2012 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), as well as the upcoming March 2012 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) due for release next week on April 19. Both publications are available for free download (after release) from the ABS website - www.abs.gov.au.

The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has announced Robin Payne as the company's new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), officially placing him in the role he has served in since January following the retirement of Jean-Pascal Beaufret.

Mr. Payne joined NBN Co in 2009 as General Manager of Planning & Development and was instrumental in developing the company’s initial Corporate Plan. The following year he was appointed the company’s lead negotiator on the Definitive Agreements with Telstra that were concluded last month and which unlock the infrastructure that will enable the large-scale rollout of the fibre optic network.

Welcoming the appointment, NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley said:

“Robin is a high calibre executive who has already made an important contribution to the NBN. His knowledge of the business and his extensive experience in financial management will be invaluable as the project moves from the planning and design stage to the large-scale rollout of the Australia’s largest infrastructure project.”

“I’ve inherited a strong finance function and look forward to continuing to work with Mike and the team to deliver value for taxpayers on an infrastructure project that will touch the lives of every home and business in the country," Mr Payne said.

Mr. Payne’s appointment follows a thorough global executive search. He worked for a decade at KPMG and a further 10 years at Macquarie Bank in the investment banking division. He was also a co-founder of the Asia-Pacific digital media company, Anytime PTE.

A major business group has today confirmed that the goal of a new push by employers is to cut wages and conditions in Awards.

Interviewed on ABC radio in Melbourne this morning, the Executive Director of the National Retail Association, Gary Black, confirmed that employers were using the current review of the Award system to seek a “radical overhaul” of wages, hours of work, penalty rates and other conditions.

Mr Black said that employers wanted to introduce a commission-based system for retail employees, reduce penalty rates, and cut the pay of new employees:

“There certainly will be some capacity for some people to be paid less. If we get an induction provision… then new employees entering the industry will be paid less than what they would otherwise get.”
(Gary Black on Mornings With Jon Faine, ABC 774, 10 April 2012)

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said this was confirmation that Australian workers are facing a new push from employers to cut wages and conditions in Awards.

The ACTU is today releasing an analysis of employer submissions to Fair Work Australia’s review of Awards which shows that employers are attempting to cut penalty rates, allowances and overtime, with no compensation.

Mr Lawrence said that employers were determined to bring back the worst elements of WorkChoices.

“Employer groups want a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week economy in which they have all the flexibility, the power and control over who works when and how little they are paid,” Mr Lawrence said.

“Cutting conditions and penalty rates without some kind of compensation is simply taking money out of workers’ pockets.”

The submission from the National Retail Association wants a Fair Work Australia decision last year for a 90-minute-a-day minimum for students to be expanded into other retail Awards.

Other employer submissions argue for:

• Reduced penalties for casual employees, particularly on weekends and public holidays.
• New annualised salary arrangements that would avoid payment of allowances, penalties and overtime.
• A narrowing of the definition of shift work to reduce access to pay and leave entitlements.
• Discounted rates for apprentices and trainees where adult rates have always applied.

“All these conditions exist to protect low-paid workers who are required to work weekends and other unsociable hours.

“The sole aim of the employer agenda is to cut the take-home pay of millions of Australian workers.

“Employers forget that cutting wages means that people have less to spend, which is not good for business. Fair Work Australia must recognise these submissions for what they are, a blatant attempt to restore the worst of Work Choices and reduce wages for Australian workers.”

In a submission to the Medical Board of Australia (MBA), the AMA is calling on the Board to fund better access to doctors' health services across the country.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said doctors are at greater risk of mental illness and stress-related problems and are more susceptible to substance abuse than the general population.

“In order to deliver high-quality health care to their patients and the community, and to experience medicine as a rewarding and satisfying career, doctors need to be well,” Dr Hambleton said.

The AMA proposes that the MBA provide funding for existing doctors' health advisory services, which have established networks and strong local knowledge.  Prior to the introduction of national registration, the MBA funded services in some States.

While the MBA has a role to play in funding external doctors' health advisory services, funding arrangements must be structured so as to guarantee independence from the MBA and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.  This is essential if doctors are to trust these services and utilise them at an early stage in their illness.

Australia’s top companies are failing to recognise and manage mental illnesses in the workplace. This is despite ongoing attempts at raising awareness in Australia to the dangers of mental health issues going unnoticed and untreated.

A poll of ASX Top 300 companies by Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA) revealed that over 40 per cent of participants did not perceive mental illness as a potential risk to their organisation, and of those that did, close to half, said their organisation did not have policies in place to manage this risk. 

In addition, nearly 70 per cent did not have a dedicated and properly trained resource to identify and manage an employee suffering from mental illness, the poll found.

According to CSA’s chief executive Mr Tim Sheehy, “Despite widespread commentary on the extent of mental health in the community, it still has not registered on the corporate radar. In fact concern about mental health in the workplace seems to be at a similar stage as we were with OH&S in the construction industry 30 years ago when one or two fatalities were widely considered as an ‘unfortunate’ cost of doing business. That degree of indifference would simply not be tolerated today.”

There are compelling statistics on just how prevalent mental illness is in the workplace. Research shows that Australian businesses lose over $6.5 billion each year by failing to provide early intervention and treatment for employees with mental health conditions. In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around half of all claims, compared to harassment and bullying which account for around a quarter of claims.

“Mental illness in the workplace is a reality. Improperly managed, it poses real risks in terms of reduced productivity, workplace conflict and loss of morale, not to mention the spectre of corporate and executive liability if these issues continue to be neglected by senior decision-makers,” said Mr Sheehy.

BHP Billiton Misubishi Alliance has closed Norwich Park Mine because it’s been losing money for several months, in a move which makes the company the first miner to close a coalmine in Australia since the GFC.

This situation has come about as a result of a combination of lower production, a significant increase in costs and lower coal prices.

The decision to cease production follows a seven week review of the mine’s viability. The review could not establish any immediate remedies that would allow the operation to sustainably return to profitability.

BMA Asset President, Stephen Dumble said, “This decision was not made lightly. However, the impact of last year’s floods, combined with lower coal prices and high costs, has resulted in an operation that is not currently viable.

“While recent industrial action has had an impact on production, the mine has been unprofitable for some months. As a result, we have had to take urgent steps to both stop the losses and find the best way to secure the operation’s longer term future. Importantly, this decision on Norwich Park Mine is not reflective of the broader quality of our world class Queensland Coal operations.”

Mr Dumble said the Company would now focus on implementing measures that would enable Norwich Park to operate as a sustainably profitable, low cost mine.

Clean Energy Council appoints UK clean energy pioneer David Green as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Clean Energy Council Board Chairman Michael Fraser said Mr Green had been at the forefront of clean energy policy in the UK for more than two decades.

“As Australia moves towards a clean energy future, the Clean Energy Council – under David’s leadership – will play a significant role in working with governments and industry to develop the policy and practice that enables Australia to emerge as a key player in this field,” Mr Fraser said.

Mr Green said it was an honour to be invited to lead the Clean Energy Council and to work with its experienced and talented team to deliver a vision for a sustainable energy future for Australia.

“I have long admired the innovative ideas that Australian policy-makers and industry - in particular the membership of the CEC - have developed on energy efficiency and renewable energy, a number of which have positioned Australia as a leader, an innovator and an inspiration to the rest of the world,” Mr Green said.

He has worked with the UK government on clean energy policy, energy efficiency and strategies for low-income households. As a regular visitor to Australia, he has advised various parts of the Victorian Government, as well as the US Department of Energy, the New Zealand Government and key institutions of the European Union.

Chief Executive of ANZ Phil Chronican has expressed his confusion with Australia’s ongoing campaign against banks and the pay packages of their executives.

Mr Chronican defended the pay packages of his colleagues, saying they are deserving of them in much the same way as movie stars of athletes.

"We seem happy and even proud when our sportspeople make it onto the list of the top 20 paid people, or similarly when our entertainers make it on Hollywood's best paid list," Mr Chronican said at a lunch hosted at the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia.

"Yet for some reason when people are managing large complex businesses it (remuneration) is seen as excessive."

Mr Chronican said the innate complexities of large businesses warranted the pay packages of its leaders, adding that attractive remuneration packages attracted the best executives, which in turn yielded the best results for shareholders.

He accused the public of partaking in the emerging pastime of bank bashing, saying that the quality of public education on the issue is woefully inadequate.

109 of the best and brightest minds from countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, China and Germany are coming to Australia to undertake their world-class research, thanks to the Australian Research Council’s fellowships and rewards.

Highlighting the importance of attracting and retaining world-class research talent, ARC Chief Executive Officer and Advisory Council Chair Professor Margaret Sheil said ARC fellowships and awards were helping Australia grow and maintain a skilled and talented research workforce.

“The new Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards scheme has attracted 109 promising early career researchers to Australian shores this year—this includes citizens of 30 countries and Australians returning from six countries,” Professor Sheil said.

“These 109 researchers represented 40 per cent of the Awards announced last November,” she said.

At their meeting, the ARC Advisory Council spoke of the importance of attracting research talent from across the globe to help Australia address national issues such as industry transformation, and global issues such as our changing climate.

The Council of Financial Regulator has released its recommendations on reforms to the oversight of the country’s financial market infrastructure to ensure continued protection for investors, businesses and market participants.

The main recommendations include:

• new powers to require certain market infrastructure to have key aspects of their operations located in Australia, where deemed appropriate, and be managed and governed by 'fit and proper' persons;
• enhanced 'step in' powers for regulators to intervene in the event of infrastructure experiencing substantial difficulties; and
• strengthened and clarified powers for regulators to give directions to operators of key market infrastructure and impose appropriate sanctions where licensees and their officers fail to comply with directions or licence conditions.

The Council, whose members include the Governor of the Reserve Bank, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chairs of both APRA and ASIC, advise that these changes are desirable to underwrite the continued stability of market infrastructure and robust oversight.

“I asked the Council to advise on potential reforms last year following my decision to prohibit the acquisition of ASX Limited by Singapore Exchange Limited,” Treasurer Wayne Swan said. 

The Federal Government has appointed Brian Wilson as the Chair of the Foreign Investment Review Board for a five-year term starting on 16 April.

Mr Wilson will replace John Phillips who will retire from the Board at the end of his term having served in the role for 15 years.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Phillips for his outstanding contribution to public policy over many years. Mr Phillips' invaluable leadership of the FIRB follows a very distinguished career in the public, finance and business sectors, including in his role as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) between 1987 and 1992,” Treasurer Wayne Swan said.

Mr Wilson has been a member of the FIRB since 2009 and possesses what Mr Swan calls ‘extensive financial services experience’, having worked with both the funds management and investment management sectors.

“ In his 33 year career as an investment banker, Mr Wilson specialised in corporate financial advice, advising many of Australia's top 100 companies and numerous international groups. He is a former Australian managing director of the global investment bank Lazard and a former vice chairman of Citigroup Australia,” Mr Swan said.

The Australian and New Zealand Productivity Commissions have released a joint issues paper for their inaugural study on options to further enhance integration between the Australian and New Zealand economies.

The two Commissions have been asked to provide further advice on how the two countries would benefit from further economic integration.

The study is being headed by the Commissions’ chairmen, Gary Banks and Murray Sherwin, together with Commissioners Jonathan Coppel (Australia) and Graham Scott (New Zealand)

“New Zealand and Australia are close neighbours that already benefit from significant economic integration. Our job is to advise on potential ways to further enhance that integration for the benefit of both countries. We have been asked to look at options for boosting productivity through reducing the regulatory burden on business, increasing competition and encouraging closer economic cooperation”, he said. “We encourage anyone interested in these matters to have their say by putting in a submission,” Mr Sherwin said.

A draft report is due for release in early September, with the final report being delivered to the two Governments by 1 December, ahead of a meeting of the Prime Ministers in early 2013.

Further information on the study and the issues paper can be viewed on the study website at Issues paper

ANZ has announced Peter Davis as the company’s new CEO in Japan, following his promotion from Global Head of Utilities and Infrastructure at ANZ.

Mr Davis will report directly to Gilles Planté, CEO of ANZ Asia.

“With his extensive institutional banking experience and broad knowledge of the global infrastructure market, Peter is exceptionally well qualified to lead our team in Japan,” Mr Plante said.

Mr Davis replaces Robert Bell, who was recently appointed ANZ’s Head of Super Regional Business Development within ANZ’s Commercial business in Melbourne. Mr Davis will assume his new role from 1 May in Tokyo.

Before joining ANZ in 1999, Mr Davis spent 10 years with Credit Lyonnais in Asia and Australia, including leading its Project & Asset Finance business in China.

Clean Global Energy has announced it has appointed Michael Curnow as the company's new Non-Executive Director, effective immediately.

Mr Curnow has extensive experience in the resources sector, specifically in gold, platinum and mineral sands exploration. He has been involved in the ownership and management of a wide range of companies both in Australia and South Africa, having founded Gallery Gold and acted as a founding Director of Adamus.

Mr Curnow will replace Alison Coutts following her resignation from the roles as CEO and Managing Director.