Federal Government page 62 of 66

The Coalition is seeking advice on yesterday's Senate defeat of its regulation that by-passed the former Labor Government extension of Australia's migration zone to offshore resource projects.

The ACTU will boycott the Heydon Royal Commission's policy development process, labelling it as "deeply inappropriate" on a number of fronts.

The Master Builders Association has called on Canberra to act to give its proposed building watchdog the power to deal with secondary boycotts, which unions are using as a "weapon that has the capacity to send Master Builders' members to the wall or inflict sufficient damage to warrant complicity".

Fair Work Commission member Ian Cambridge, a former national secretary of the AWU, will appear this week before the Heydon Royal Commission, which will resume its hearings into the union’s Workplace Reform Association "slush fund".

The Financial Services Council has demanded that Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross clarify two legal points before its challenge to the default superannuation review is heard by the Federal Court on Friday.

FWC President Iain Ross has this afternoon flatly rejected a suggestion that his involvement in superannuation funds "25 years ago" means he has a conflict of interest in sitting on the expert panel's review of default funds.

The construction watchdog's review of "cold cases" has identified another 14 cases where penalties were agreed through negotiation or discontinued, a Senate Estimates hearing has been told. Meanwhile, the Fair Work Ombudsman has rejected suggestions that it "washes its hands" of 457 visa complaints.

Former Prime Minister John Howard says that of the five big economic reforms Australian governments has implemented over the last 30 years, industrial relations is the only one that has gone backwards.

There is "no substance" to the claims of inconsistent FWC decision-making that have underpinned calls for an independent appeal mechanism, according to the tribunal's president, Justice Iain Ross.

The Abbott Government has rejected Labor claims that it has already decided to proceed with the Commission of Audit's recommendation to axe the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency.