Former Western Australian under-treasurer Tim Marney has been appointed deputy chair of the federal government’s five industrial relations working groups. Christian Porter, who will chair the working groups, announced Mr Marney’s appointment this week following an industrial relations roundtable in Sydney.
Mr Marney, who held the position of WA under-treasurer from 2004 to 2014, is a current principal at Nous Group and chair of Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre.
“Mr Marney is a highly respected economist and problem solver who worked successfully under both Labor and Liberal governments during almost three decades of public service,’ Mr Porter said.
“Having worked closely with Tim during my time as WA treasurer, his skillset and ability to bridge the political divide makes him the ideal choice to facilitate negotiations between employers and unions to get Australian working again.”
Mr Porter said jobs needed to be a central focus as Australia moves into the COVID-19 recovery phase.
Membership of each working group will be finalised over the coming days, Mr Porter said, with meetings likely to begin in the coming weeks.
“The prime minister has asked for outcomes from the working groups in September to ensure that any reforms can be implemented as soon as is practicable and all participants at today’s meeting in Sydney and those joining via video conference from Melbourne, Canberra and Perth, agreed to work hard to that time demand,” Mr Porter said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the industrial relations overhaul and five working group topics last month, covering casual and fixed-term employees, award simplification, enterprise agreement making, compliance and enforcement, and greenfields agreements for new enterprises.
