Family First Senator Steve Fielding today said he will vote against it, but the Work Choices bill has the numbers to pass the Upper House with an uncertain number of amendments supported by wavering National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce.
The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner John Lloyd has in the past week made the first use of his power to intervene in court and tribunal proceedings.
Coalition members will meet later this week to consider amendments to the Work Choices legislation, with Prime Minister John Howard this morning reiterating that he wanted the bill passed this fortnight - the final session before Parliament rises for the year.
The ACCC has begun a secondary boycott action against the CFMEU's WA branch over alleged bans it imposed on Doric Constructions at the Holiday Inn site at Burswood in Perth.
Last-ditch lobbying intensified today as senators started to debate the Work Choices bill, with the ACTU presenting a petition to maverick Queensland National Barnaby Joyce and Unions NSW releasing a family impact statement on the legislation.
Despite the imminent federal overriding of the NSW IRC's unfair contracts jurisdiction for many work-related claims, the Iemma Government has introduced legislation to counteract recent court decisions that have limited the operation of the laws.
The Federal Government has this morning confirmed to the AIRC that it will be via the Work Choices regulations that part-heard matters affecting constitutional corporations will lapse when the legislation is enacted.
The Federal Government is in the process of establishing a register of private alternative dispute resolution providers for use under the Work Choices legislation, the Attorney-General, Phillip Ruddock, said this week.