While the final sitting of Parliament for 2023 was far from being the Albanese government's finest hour, it managed to pull off some significant wins in the last fortnight. That said, you would hardly know it given the way the controversy over the release of more than 150 immigration detainees - many with criminal records - as a result of the High Court decision has sucked up all the oxygen. The fact five of those have already reoffended or been picked up on an outstanding warrant dating back a decade hasn't helped the government's case. Nobody has yet been able to explain, given government claims that due process was followed, how the outstanding warrant was missed. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus's brain snap which saw him shake his finger at a female journalist during a testy press conference was the icing on the cake for the opposition. With Labor's primary vote now just 29 per cent and the LNP almost neck-and-neck on two-party preferred, the Prime Minister is going to have his work cut out over the long break. With talk of a reshuffle and a reset doing the rounds some ministers, including Clare O'Neil and Andrew Giles, might be feeling a little apprehensive. Others, however, are in a better position. One is Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who has quietly got on with the job of landing a water buyback deal for the Murray-Darling and passing the Nature Safety Repair Bill. Another Labor politician who is delivering the goods is NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, who is pushing through a comprehensive overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme which, having grown like topsy, is threatening to bankrupt future governments. The Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke is also deserving of a mention in dispatches thanks to a last-minute deal with crossbenchers that got much of his IR legislation across the line at the 11th hour. After refusing to split the "same work, same pay" bill, which senators David Pocock and Jacquie Lambie argued was in danger of being rushed through Parliament, for weeks the government decided half a loaf was better than none. This means labour hire staff will receive the same pay as full-time employees for doing the same work and that first-responders will be able to access post traumatic stress disorder compensation more easily from January 1. While the closure of the so-called labour hire loophole has been welcomed by the unions, employer groups are, predictably, unhappy. They have spent large sums on an advertising campaign that mischievously suggests a new hire would have to be paid the same as someone with decades of experience. That just isn't true. Employers may have been better served using that money to pay workers more equitably off their own bat. The change means companies can't pay staff sourced through a labour hire firm less than workers on their own payroll. The legislation also removes exemptions on paying redundancies for businesses employing less than 15 people and offers workplace protections for people experiencing family and domestic violence. Wage theft will also be made a crime. Setting minimum employment standards for gig workers, for truck drivers and changing the definition of casual work will be revisited next year. These are under review by a Senate committee. Given the legitimate concerns expressed by businesses on the sweeping nature of some of these proposals, careful consideration is warranted. ISSUE: 40,087
