{"id":155531,"date":"2016-08-23T20:40:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T10:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=155531"},"modified":"2020-06-29T20:37:13","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T10:37:13","slug":"court-ruling-a-two-edged-sword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/08\/23\/court-ruling-a-two-edged-sword\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Ruling A ‘Two-Edged Sword’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace<\/figcaption><\/figure>August 23, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Queensland Ministers now have the ability to direct the independent Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to change awards if they don’t like them.<\/p>\n

The right of Ministers to dictate terms to the IRC has come about after the Queensland Supreme Court ruled against the Local Government Association Of Queensland (LGAQ).<\/p>\n

Last month the LGAQ appealed against a direction given to the IRC by Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace to restore various conditions and allowances that had been removed from the Local Government Industry Award three years ago.<\/p>\n

The LGAQ said it supported the right of the Queensland Parliament to establish a framework for industrial relations which included an independent Industrial Relations Commission to prescribe fair and reasonable minimum employment conditions for local government employees.<\/p>\n

But it did not believe a right to personally determine minimum employment conditions extended to an individual Minister.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Supreme Court found for the Government and awarded it costs.<\/p>\n

Ms Grace said the decision brought an end to a period of uncertainty for 30,000 local government workers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Conditions including sick leave, overtime and locality allowances were stripped away under the LNP, leaving thousands of council workers worse off,” Ms Grace said.<\/p>\n

“We went to the State Election promising to restore these conditions, and today\u2019s Supreme Court decision has vindicated our actions, as well as confirming that I acted within my powers.”<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, South Burnett CEO Gary Wall said he felt the decision was a concern because it had introduced an element of uncertainty into the industrial relations process.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I think this decision is a bit of a two-edged sword, because if one side (of politics) can do this, then so can the other,” Mr Wall said.<\/p>\n

“What we need in local government is certainty so we can work on sustainability going forward.<\/p>\n

“We are ready to begin negotiations on a new EBA, and this will delay things.”<\/p>\n

Mr Wall said the IRC’s original changes had come about as part of a process to modernise the awards that cover local government, with the aim of merging up to half a dozen different awards into one.<\/p>\n

The court’s decision now means a new award due to be handed down at the end of August will be delayed by several months.<\/p>\n

Mr Wall said the SBRC did not anticipate the restoration of conditions and allowances would have any major impact on the Council’s Budget.<\/p>\n

A number of the allowances and conditions that had been removed three years ago did not apply to South Burnett Regional Council staff. <\/p>\n