Media Releases March 2020

The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI®) jumped 9.4 points to 53.7 in March, ending four months of contraction (readings above 50 points indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the expansion).

"It is being said that we are facing a health crisis and an economic crisis. Some say we are at war. But even in wartime we keep our industries crucial to our survival operating. And if we can substantially minimise health risks, we should not put people out of work," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group, said today.

Statement by Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, and AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton:
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) and Ai Group are joining forces to urge that every effort is made to ensure Australian manufacturing businesses remain safe and can continue to supply the needs of Australian households, businesses, community organisations and health providers.

"The support the Federal Government is providing for wage and salary earners is a welcome boost to the employment prospects of many Australians. The JobKeeper Payment will help businesses and other employers stay in business and help them retain their employees," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of national employer association Ai Group, said today.

"A wage support mechanism should be included among the new measures being investigated in response to the escalating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Australia's governments weigh the advantages, and disadvantages, of such actions already taken in other countries," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group, said today.

The Fair Work Commission has today decided to vary the Clerks Private Sector Award to insert a Schedule of special conditions to assist employers and employees adapt to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Today's decision of the Fair Work Commission allows those special conditions to operate until 30 June 2020.

"Today, a joint Ai Group and ACCI application has been filed in the Fair Work Commission to vary the Clerks Award in terms agreed with the Australian Services Union. An urgent hearing has been sought and the parties are seeking to have the Award varied as soon as possible," Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said today.

"As we inevitably move towards shutting down parts of our economy to deal with the health threat of coronavirus, it is vital that the designation of essential services is appropriately broad and includes the supply chains necessary to allow those essential services to continue to operate. The definition of essential services also needs to be coordinated on a national basis," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

"The additional economic measures being announced by the Federal Government today are a timely and welcome response to the rapidly escalating challenges facing Australian businesses and households," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.

The Australian Industry Group strongly welcomes the Victorian Government's economic survival package to support businesses and jobs, announced this morning by the Premier and the Treasurer.