The Slow Breakdown of COAG - Part 1

The slow breakdown of COAG – Part 1

NSW Labor leader Kristina Keneally is leading the most unpopular Labor Government in the history of Newspoll.

To stay relevant, she is playing to her core constituencies.

One of the ways she is trying to ‘save the furniture’ is to renege on promises made to accept changes to the NSW occupational health and safety (OHS) issue to permit OHS to be harmonised around Australia.

This is an interesting development. As we said at the time the OHS intergovernmental agreement was made:

As part of the (Workplace Relations Ministerial Council) decision, unions will not be able to commence prosecutions, and prosecutors must prove OHS offences beyond reasonable doubt – the Council expressly voted down the current position in NSW – making union stakeholders quite cross.

WA declined to sign the communiqué as they were unhappy about the use of conciliation to resolve OHS issues, the low standard of proof for workplace discrimination claims, union right of entry to workplaces and the level of gaol terms. It remains a question how much of the national model each jurisdiction takes into its own law, although it is noted that uniform OHS laws are one of those things for which states and territories receive ‘reward payments’ under the National Partnership to Deliver a Seamless Economy

It is disingenuous for Keneally to argue her position on not agreeing to harmonised OHS provisions is the same as WA. At least WA refused to sign the agreement. NSW folded.

As the Sydney Morning Herald said on 14 May 2009:

(Then Minister) Mr Tripodi said NSW was committed to harmonisation of legislation, and he was disappointed that NSW laws allowing unions to prosecute for safety breaches were not adopted.

As one would nearly expect the Prime Minister has threatened NSW its ‘reward payments', with the Prime Minister reported as saying that 'the Council of Australian Governments must work on the basis that jurisdictions honour their commitments.'

This yet again raises the issue of the proper function of COAG within the Australian federation.

This will be discussed in the next couple of articles.