Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reaffirmed his commitment to not changing the Australian workplace relations system in the current term of his government.
Abbott was responding to the release of the Productivity Commission’s draft report on industrial relations.
The Prime Minister said on Tuesday he wants to make it “crystal clear” that the Coalition will not seek to change the workplace relations system in its first-term of government.
“I want to absolutely stress that this is a draft report,” the Prime Minister said, according to Fairfax.
Similar comments were made by Employment Minister Eric Abetz, who said in a doorstop interview on Tuesday he also stresses the draft nature of the report, which is also a “report to government, not of, or from government”.
However, Abetz said the sentiment of the report is similar to that of the government.
“The Productivity Commission in their press release headed it ‘repair, not replace’, which of course, is very similar to that which we, as a Coalition said before the last election, namely that any changes that we would look at would be within the Fair Work framework and we would simply work to improve on that which was already there,” the minister said.
“Similarly, in the area of wage setting, we have said at all times, that it is up to the independent umpire, the Fair Work Commission, that should determine penalty rates and things of that nature, such as minimum wages. It appears that the Productivity Commission is also of that view.”
A company that spruiked the benefits of self-managed super funds on its website has paid fines worth $10,200 after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission found there were potentially misleading claims made online.
Dixon Advisory Group’s website included a page which compared the costs and performance of SMSFs to industry and retail funds, as well as a promotional video that made claims about an independent review of the taxation system.
ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said in statement yesterday the commission issued two infringements because of concerns the claims in the video and page were painting an inaccurate picture for consumers.
“Any comparisons between SMSFs and industry and retail funds, particularly regarding performance or fees, must be accurate and have a reasonable basis,” Kell said.
“Any qualification should be apparent to a consumer when they first see the information.”
Dixon Advisory has since removed the statements and video from its website and related social media profiles.
Local markets fell sharply on opening this morning but began picking up again just after 11am.
The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was down 0.5%, falling 29.3 points to 5668.6 points at 12.27pm AEST. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed down 0.27%, falling 47.51 points to 17550.7 points.
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