THE Government has passed one of its newest piece of industrial relations legislation – giving unions more power to come onto properties without notice.

While the right of employees to not reply to calls and emails after hours has been the most high-profile part of “closing loopholes” legislation, several changes are set to give casual employees and union representatives more rights.

The legislation will allow union reps to come onto properties without notice and the casual employees to convert to permanent after six months.

National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said the suite of measures would deliver more uncertainty for farmers, more power for union bosses, and a less dynamic economy for workers.

“The Government’s form in scrabbling together last-minute backroom deals without proper debate and scrutiny just paves the way for poor legislation,” Mr Mahar said.

“We were already worried about how rushed this legislation is and farmers’ concerns simply haven’t been listened to.”

Mr Mahar said the NFF was still yet to hear a coherent justification for some of these changes the Government was pushing through.

“The expansion of right of entry powers is a straight-up union power grab. There’s no reason to grant them more power to traipse onto farms unannounced. These are people’s homes and there are important safety and biosecurity considerations.

“Farming is incredibly unique in terms of the seasonal volatility, remoteness and prevalence of family-run operations that impact our workforce needs. It’s important policymakers hear directly from farmers before upending established IR rules.

The sentiment was echoed by Nationals leader David Littleproud.

“There are fears among industry that these changes give unions enhanced rights to enter farms unannounced, which is mind boggling and defies common sense,” Mr Littleproud said.

“The farm is often the family home for many Australians. This is about safety and privacy, as well as animal welfare and biosecurity risk.

“Any unintended consequences leading to an outbreak of a disease will cause lower food supply and higher food prices – this is the last thing Australian families need in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.”

Mr Littleproud siad Labor’s new definition of ‘casual’ could also create too much risk for farmers.

“Industry is also deeply concerned the changes could mean that an employee will only be ‘casual’ if there’s no ‘firm advanced commitment to continuing and indefinite work’, founded on mutual understanding, which is difficult when it comes to agriculture,” Mr Littleproud said.

“A casual employee will also have the right to convert to permanent employment after six months of employment, if the employee believes their status no longer meets the definition of ‘casual’. In other words, the casual employee, not the employer, gets to choose their own employment status.

“Labor is making it hard for farmers, but it’s families who will pay for it at the checkout.”

Source: NFF/David Littleproud