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Last night, I discussed with Alan Jones (Sky News) issues surrounding criminal OHS prosecutions of the Victorian government over the hotel quarantine mess. The discussion is here.

The key point is that there must be consistency in the application of the law. There cannot be one rule for the rulers and another for the people who are ruled. To do that would amount to a collapse of the rule of law in society.  More...

Today we have lodged with the Victorian WorkSafe Authority a letter requesting that the Authority prosecute the Victorian government over failures in relation to the Hotel Quarantine Containment Program. These failures have resulted in 765 deaths to date.  More...

This morning we released our analysis that explains ‘nothing’—that is, why all senior Victorian government people say they ‘know nothing’ about who made the decision to use security firms for the hotel quarantine program. Yet evidence from the Coate Inquiry points directly to Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) unions as the probable decision-maker/s.

Given the government’s ‘know nothing’ excuses, the possibility that unions made the decision is the most plausible explanation ‘left on the table’. Evidence submitted to the Inquiry points directly to VTHC. More...

“I saw nothing. I heard nothing. I know nothing.” This is the recurring theme that has been the hallmark of the Coate inquiry into the Covid-19 Victorian hotel quarantine failures.

Every senior responsible bureaucrat, Minister and the Premier himself has said, under oath, that they have no idea who or how the decision was made to use private security firms to manage the hotel quarantine. Yet this ‘nothing’ decision resulted in the Victorian Covid-19 outbreak and some 765 deaths to date.

Given that everyone knows ‘nothing’, this ‘nothing’ needs an explanation.  More...

Yesterday we wrote to the Victorian WorkCover Authority requesting them to investigate the Covid-19 hotel quarantine mess for possible breaches under the Victorian work safety laws (Occupational Health & Safety Act). Section 131 of the Act allows us to lodge such a request on the Authority who, under the Act must investigate and respond.

The Victorian government has pretty much admitted that the second Covid-19 wave outbreak happened because of the botched hotel quarantine mess in March. Hundreds of deaths have occurred following this.

If anything like this sort of scenario had happened in a private-sector business, we could be sure that a massive investigation would be undertaken by the Victorian WorkCover Authority. The investigation would look to see if prosecution should occur under the Victorian OHS Act, including application of the new manslaughter provisions. But the WorkCover Authority has done nothing over the Covid-19 disaster. More...

SEA Executive Director Ken Phillips has an article in today's Spectator discussing the application of Victorian Worksafe laws to the hotel quarantine mess. In this special blogpost we republish the article in full: More...

Big business ‘leaders’, such as the Business Council of Australia for example, have for many months been openly expressing their worry that they are failing to influence public policy.

It’s not such a surprise. Australia’s big business leaders have for some time openly and through political backdoors been trying to kill off important economic reforms that make for a better Australian economy.  More...

A very big Season’s Greetings to all ICA members, supporters, friends and contributors—of which there are many! 2016 has been an impressive year in terms of achieving positive outcomes for self-employed people.  More...

According to ICA Executive Director Ken Phillips, the Turnbull government is setting itself up for policy and political failure. This is because of the way the government has responded to the report by Justice Heydon into union corruption released last week.

Justice Heydon’s report details widespread corruption in unions and businesses. Yet the Turnbull government’s almost gleeful response hammers only unions. This response reflects political stupidity. It has opened itself to a campaign which suggests  that the Coalition is anti-worker and runs a political protection racket for corrupt employers. More...

This week, in Business Spectator, ICA Executive Director Ken Phillips wrote about a ‘mystery’ box that arrived in the post for him some years ago. It contained the true financial records of a major trade union. The records differed from the union’s publicly declared accounts. The point of Ken's article is that full transparency and disclosure should be imposed on the big superannuation funds or we could see corruption scandals in superannuation similar to those we are seeing with unions.  More...