Media Releases

"The new Heads of Agreement between the Federal Government and the East Coast Liquefied Natural Gas exporters is a step forward but is not one that will drive a gas-led industrial recovery," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of national employer organisation Ai Group today.

The Australian Industry Group has welcomed the Victorian Government's announcement today to allow more workers to attend offices and remove the need for them to be wearing masks when in the office.

"It is welcome that the Queensland Government has kept to its plan to limit the Brisbane shutdown to three days.  This demonstrates the Government is gaining in confidence in its testing and tracing regime. The experience should also give the Government the confidence to proceed with more targeted responses to outbreaks in the future," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

"The welcome decision handed down late yesterday by a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission varying the Clerks – Private Sector Award 2010 provides employers and employees with more flexibility to agree on working arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new flexibilities were applied for by Ai Group and ACCI and were not opposed by the ACTU and the Australian Services Union," Innes Willox Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

According to a new Ai Group report released today – Business experiences in 2020 and outlook for 2021 – despite the partial recovery underway and the considerable adjustments made over the course of 2020, most Australian businesses continue to report negative impacts as a result of COVID-19.

"Today's MYEFO and labour force report cards provide welcome additional signs of further recovery. The lifting of restrictions in Victoria was a key element in the further jobs growth recorded in November with that state accounting for over 80% of new positions. While that is welcome, this concentration illustrates that the pace of jobs growth and recovery in the rest of the country eased considerably in November," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

"It is right and proper that Australia has launched action against China in the WTO to defend claims that we are dumping and subsidising our barley exports," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

"Australian businesses looking for alternative markets to China during the current trade tensions could have their efforts undermined by the closure of language programs by a number of our universities," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

"The Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020, as introduced into Parliament today, contains important measures that will support the recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. The Bill is a balanced and measured response that deserves the support of all Parliamentarians and it should be passed without delay," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group, said.

"Any criminal penalties or higher civil penalties for serious and deliberate wage underpayments in the Government’s IR Bill need to be fair on employers and part of a balanced package of reforms," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group, said today.