Australian General Election outcome on a knife edge‏

Report from a UNISONActive reader in Sydney, Australia: The election remains on a knife edge with both sides negotiating to form Government. Whilst the Greens picked up a significant swing towards them, this has not translated into seats in the Lower House where they have won their first seat. The Greens will however have the balance of power in the Australian Senate and have already confirmed their intention to reinforce workers and union rights wherever possible.

The best case scenario at this stage is, of course, the return of the Labor Government but they will require the support of rural independents who have traditionally be considered aligned to the conservative side (although they have walked out on the National Party or Country Party as they were known and thus became independents).

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said that Australian people have sent a clear message during this election that their rights at work matter, and they will not support parties that are committed to policies which undermine workers’ pay, conditions and rights.

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence commented: “Our two million union members, and the more than 10 million workers in Australia have succeeded in forcing all major parties in this election to commit to fair work laws. We know that WorkChoices was a significant issue in workplaces and in the community and weighed heavily on the public’s mind in the lead up to this election. This is the second election in which WorkChoices has been decisively rejected by the Australian public.”
http://www.actu.org.au/Media/Mediareleases/WorkplacerightskeytoelectionAustralianpublicagainsendmessageaboutindustrialrelations.aspx

If Labor is re-elected and the Greens hold the balance in the Senate, then it is possible that we would see some movement on IR reform. But we have a long way to go yet.