Published Submissions Employing Statutory Officials Legislation. Has RSHQ gone rogue with Coal Mining Safety and Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
The Transport and Resources Committee has released the submissions made about the Legislation to provide for exceptions to direct employment requirements for coal mining statutory positions
https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=173&id=4200
One matter that stands out in the submissions is the new 80% clause, which would allow a person to be appointed to a statutory position by a contractor company if the contractor company employs at least 80 per cent of coal mine workers at an entire coal mine.
The submissions of both the QRC and the CFMEU submissions was the 80% clause was never discussed in Minister Stewarts “Tripartite Statutory Positions Working Group”
According to the submissions received the 80% rule is something that came from within RSHQ without any consultation with the other parties of the working group. It came about from discussions with “key stakeholders.”
Well the mind boggles as to who the RSHQ, its Commissioner and Minister must consider key stakeholders if the QRC and CFMEU are not consulted, and RSHQ is not going to make any good confessions obviously
Well it seems to me my friends at RSHQ have again gone and done their own thing and come up with with another unsupported change to Legislation that will make the situation worse not better
The QRC does not support the 80% rule and does not even know where it came from as it was not discussed according to page 5 of their submission.
“It is unclear where this requirement came from as it was not discussed in the working group established by the Hon Scott Stewart MP, Minister for Resources, which was established in December 2021 and reported to the Minister at the end of January 2022.“
However the QRC seeks to make the most of this illogical set of draft laws.
They are just going to ask for what they have already forced on the industry through their industrial relations agenda over the last 20 years and what the Legislation was supposed to eliminate.
The QRC brazenly puts it up for inclusion
“The requirement should be replaced with a new provision allowing contracting entities to have their own statutory position holders where they directly employ them;”
The CFMEU Submission states in part
“the group made four solutions to resolve the issue of contractors, none of these solutions were taken up by the draft legislation”….
The matter of an 80% threshold for employing statutory officials was never raised nor discussed by the working group and there is no agreement for such a proposal.
Kate du Preez the Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health submission states that “following the working group, further consultation took place with key stakeholders.”
The Bill proposes to address this issue by broadening the Direct Employment Requirement to allow an entity to employ a statutory position holder where the entity engages 80 per cent or more of the coal mine workers at the mine
The QRC submission link is below
https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/com/TRC-645B/CMSHOLAB20-C480/submissions/00000003.pdf
CFMEU submission link is
https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/com/TRC-645B/CMSHOLAB20-C480/submissions/00000003.pdf
RSHQ Submission
https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/com/TRC-645B/CMSHOLAB20-C480/submissions/00000004.pdf
The RSHQ submission at least makes a note of when and how the 80% employment clause came into existence. Kate du Preez the Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health submission states
The Working Group identified that under the existing Direct Employment Requirements in the CMSH Act, a coal mine operator will be restricted from employing a contractor to provide part of or full-service contract that includes the services of an SSE and other statutory positions.
I note that following the working group, further consultation took place with key stakeholders.
The Bill proposes to address this issue by broadening the Direct Employment Requirement to allow an entity to employ a statutory position holder where the entity engages 80 per cent or more of the coal mine workers at the mine
