Legislation page 6 of 73

The new WA Labor Premier, Roger Cook, has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to warn that he should consider industry concerns that the Closing Loopholes legislation might damage the mining and resources sector.

The Minerals Council has revealed it expects to spend up to $24 million on its advertising campaign against the Albanese Government's Loopholes Bill during the current financial year, exceeding the amount the resources sector directed into its efforts to slay the previous Labor Government's super profits tax in 2010.

The ACTU is pushing for the Closing Loopholes legislation to empower the FWC to set minimum standards for all "employee-like" workers, not just those engaged in digital platform work.

Digital platform DoorDash has aired its concerns that the Closing Loopholes Bill gives "unprecedented power" to the FWC, "a body which has previously only ever dealt with employment", without requiring it to consult on-demand economy experts, while Didi and Uber are also seeking changes to the FWC's proposed enlarged ambit.

BHP has accused the Albanese Government of "blatantly" seeking to undermine the FWC's independent decision-making by declaring the company's Operations Services internal labour hire arm a key target of the Closing Loopholes legislation.

The Albanese Government has today introduced its second tranche of legislation to increase federally-funded paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

Resources employer group AREEA says the Loopholes Bill's labour hire provisions lack a proper exemption for specialist contractors and will kill off the use of on-hire workers, despite Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke's assurances that the drafting would take "very full account" of its concerns.

Ahead of its appearance tomorrow before the Senate inquiry into the Closing Loopholes Bill, the United Workers Union has urged the Albanese Government to amend the "same-job, same-pay" reforms in the legislation to make them "more efficient and sensible", while it has also warned that thousands of workers won't benefit because the process is too dependent on running cases in the FWC.

A leading IR academic kicking off a Senate inquiry's hearings into the Albanese Government's Closing Loopholes legislation has recommended passage of changes for "employee-like" gig workers and owner drivers, along with some "improvements".

The president of a nursing "red union" faces the sack from her hospital job after failing to persuade an appeal court that unauthorised media comments fell under protected industrial activity.