Cool-hand Julia puts on her poker face

FOR all the Rudd Government's lofty talk of co-operation and "ending the blame game" with the states, Julia Gillard is certainly playing an interesting poker game.

Font Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print COMMENT: Brad Norington | May 24, 2008
FOR all the Rudd Government's lofty talk of co-operation and "ending the blame game" with the states, Julia Gillard is certainly playing an interesting poker game.

The Deputy Prime Minister, in her role as Workplace Relations Minister, is midway through consultations with her state Labor counterparts over legislation to replace John Howard's much-maligned Work Choices.

At the end of this process - and the Government thrives on process - Gillard will say the states and other interested parties were given full opportunity to provide their input.

She will no doubt argue the states and the unions supported Labor's industrial relations policy, Forward with Fairness, "in its entirety" and her inclusive approach further binds them to accept the result.

Here's where Gillard's poker acumen comes in: how to stare down dissent. There is no escaping the Government is seeking a power grab on IR that was always beyond Howard's grasp, and already several states, led by NSW IR Minister John Della Bosca, are resisting.

The risk for Gillard is she will not achieve all she wants: a truly national IR system with uniform minimum employment standards, enterprise-level "good faith" bargaining and a low-key mediator called Fair Work Australia to help resolve disputes.

Before the election, no one in the Labor camp wanted to raise their doubts about Forward with Fairness because the objective was to maintain unity long enough to defeat Howard. But the states and unions don't really like Gillard's model for Fair Work Australia. Their idea of harmonising IR includes an opt-out clause.

What was the point of Labor's promise to introduce an independent umpire, they say, if it is to be a toothless mediator that cannot decide anything when two sides fail to agree.

They are especially concerned about the plight of workers with no bargaining muscle. They want to retain some sort of arbitral system, preferably based on their own court-style tribunals with the power to impose settlements.

Gillard must believe she holds the winning cards. She probably does.

Unions are weak because the days of the old Hawke- and Keating-style accords with Labor are gone. After the damage done to unions under the Howard government, Gillard has a card up her sleeve that reads: "You need us more than we need you."

The Australian

News Added: 24 May, 2008

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