Heavy hitters take Abbott to task on IR
At the same time, a younger member of the business elite called for corporate leaders to keep their mouths shut.
Speaking at a lunch in Melbourne, Lend Lease chairman David Crawford and Asciano chairman Malcolm Broomhead seized on Mr Abbott's inaction on workplace issues.
Mr Broomhead said it was "absolute madness" to defer reforms until 2016 at the earliest. The 2016 date was nominated by Mr Abbott in August, when he launched a set of pre-election workplace policies that left the Labor Party's Fair Work Act largely unchanged.
His one significant change will be to revive the Australian Building and Construction Commission, but for most companies not involved in the construction industry, little has changed.
Mr Crawford, who sits on the BHP Billiton board with Mr Broomhead, said putting off more extensive workplace reform was "extremely disappointing".
He said Mr Abbott had made a political decision to help get elected. "I think he has lost an opportunity to deal with the fundamental issue which, as you said, has been identified by just about everybody in business," he said. "We need to have industrial relations reform, and it needs to be done in a way that will lead to productivity growth and will lead to infrastructure development."
The 2016 date should coincide with Australia's next federal election, and Mr Crawford said Mr Abbott should be wary of assuming voters will give him another chance.
"It's a very brave move to assume . . . that you are going to get a second term and you are going to put off addressing the difficult decisions until that second term," he said. "They'd have lost effectively three years of trying to get their reforms through."
Among the companies that have opposed Labor's workplace settings in recent years, BHP has been one of the more outspoken, with chairman Jac Nasser calling for the policies to be "reversed".
The workplace portfolio was one of the most delicate for Mr Abbott before the election because of public fears of a return to the WorkChoices legislation that was introduced under former PM John Howard.
The comments came as National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne called for business leaders to keep their mouths shut about reform discussions, saying it was counter-productive to provide a running commentary. He said the government needed "clear air" to introduce long-term reforms, a luxury he said the Rudd and Gillard governments were not afforded.
"The previous government was often criticised for lacking consultation," he said. "It didn't. I can certainly think of two occasions where there was a genuine attempt for consultation, only to have that quickly breached by a number of participants bursting out the door to provide their views on it. That perhaps scared them away from future consultation."
Mr Clyne said reform was never easy, and people were wrong if they thought the reforms of the Hawke-Keating era were achieved seamlessly.
"It has always been hard," he said. "The harsh reality of real reform is there will be winners and losers.
"The challenge business faces is we are not going to win everything. If we descend into the individual wants of each industry then we are going to be very, very susceptible to dividing and conquering.
"Therefore we must speak with a united voice and recognise in some cases . . . while we may not benefit from an individual industry perspective, we will benefit from the rising tide of a growing economy."
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Business heavyweights including Lend Lease chairman David Crawford and Asciano chairman Malcolm Broomhead publicly criticised Prime Minister Tony Abbott for postponing broader industrial relations reform until 2016. They said the delay was disappointing and risky, arguing it squandered an opportunity to boost productivity and infrastructure development.
Malcolm Broomhead said it was "absolute madness" because Abbott's pre‑election policies left the Fair Work Act largely unchanged and delayed meaningful reform until at least 2016. Broomhead and other business leaders believe such postponement prevents timely improvements to productivity and infrastructure planning for many companies.
Abbott signalled one significant change: reviving the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). That measure specifically targets the construction industry, while many other businesses would see little change under his initial workplace policy settings.
David Crawford warned that delaying reform until the government’s potential second term was a risky political assumption. He said it effectively loses about three years of trying to implement reforms and cautioned against assuming voters will grant a second term to finish those difficult decisions.
The article highlights BHP as one of the more outspoken companies against Labor’s workplace settings, noting former BHP chairman Jac Nasser had called for those policies to be "reversed." Lend Lease and Asciano leaders also criticised the government's lack of broader reform.
Cameron Clyne urged business leaders to "keep their mouths shut" about reform discussions, saying running public commentary is counter‑productive. He argued the government needs "clear air" to introduce long‑term reforms and that premature public interventions can undermine consultation.
Business figures in the article stressed that real reform is hard and creates winners and losers. They warned against industry-by-industry lobbying that divides support, and encouraged speaking with a united voice to secure long‑term gains from a growing economy. They also noted past consultations were sometimes breached by participants going public, which harmed the process.
Public criticism from chairs like David Crawford and Malcolm Broomhead signals genuine corporate concern about policy settings that could affect productivity, costs and infrastructure projects. Investors should view these comments as indicators of industry sentiment and potential regulatory risk, while also noting that some leaders (like NAB's Cameron Clyne) prefer quieter consultation to help reforms proceed smoothly.
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