In 2024, when the Liberal National Party (LNP) was elected in Queensland, leader David Crisafulli was very concerned to distance himself from the memory of the previous LNP government of very right-wing Campbell Newman, who had sacked 14,000 public servants and went on a privatisation binge.
But with the recent introduction of draconian anti-union legislation by Jarrod Bleiji, the LNP deputy leader and Industrial Relations Minister, comparisons of Crisafulli with Newman are becoming more obvious.
Crisafulli is trashing Victoria Park to build an Olympic stadium and his was the first government to ban the pro-Palestine slogans, “From the River to the Sea” and “Globalise the Intifada”.
In July, Crisafulli initiated a Royal Commission into the CFMEU to back up his anti-union agenda and to stifle any construction union militancy linked with the 2032 Olympics building boom, with a new enterprise bargaining round opening in 2027.
Now, legislation amending the Industrial Relations Act gives sweeping powers to the Industrial Relations Minister to terminate industrial action—even to ban it before it actually starts. The legislation will cover all state government (teachers, nurses, paramedics, public servants) and local government workers.
The new laws will also allow bosses to deduct a whole day’s pay for implementing work bans. The restrictions on the right to strike are like those that shackle workers under the federal Fair Work Act.
Associated with the restrictions on the right to strike are amendments to health and safety laws that will make it significantly harder for workers to access workers’ compensation claims for psychological injuries.
In July, Bleiji also removed nurse and teachers’ representatives from the WorkCover and Work Health and Safety Boards, appointing instead Frank McGuire secretary of the fake Teachers Professional Association of Australia.
On 21 October, the Queensland Council of Unions held a lunchtime protest of mostly officials and union staff outside Crisafulli’s speech to the Queensland Media Club, promising a two-year campaign—in other words a campaign focused on voting Labor in 2028.
But Queensland workers haven’t got two years to wait. The cost-of-living crisis is growing while Crisafulli is running a hard-line, low wage, anti-union government. The answer is not at the ballot box. It’s the industrial power of construction workers, teachers and nurses that can break the laws and stop the rot.
By Ian Rintoul
