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Members of Parliament must lay down their swords and agree to fix some key problems in Australia’s IR system if we are to save and create jobs in this new COVID world order.

The Fair Work Amendment (Support Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 introduced into Parliament today delivers a workable compromise with the primary goal of helping to reverse some of the catastrophic damage caused by the pandemic.

“The package is far from the most ambitious or far reaching of the past few decades, but its modest approach is perhaps the most critical, considering more than two million Australians are in the job queue or desperate for more work,” ACCI CEO James Pearson said.

“Many small business owners have lost a lifetime of work; many Australians have had to surrender part of their retirement savings. Make no mistake, this is a terrible time for many Australians, and it is not the time for partisan politics.

“If we are to genuinely all be in this together, we need to be able to make it easier for employers and employees to cooperate to preserve jobs and kickstart recovery. We need to make it easier to get young people into jobs. That’s what the community expects of all of us – in parliament, in unions and in employer bodies.

“That’s why ACCI is backing the package, despite employers being hit with substantial new risks and penalties. We are looking at this on balance, and on balance this stacks up for jobs and recovery.”