ACT Senator goes rogue on penalty rates
Next year, Christmas falls on a Sunday. If ACT Senator Zed Seselja has his way, there’ll be less money for Santa to feed the reindeer.
Speaking to ABC Radio on Tuesday night, Seselja broke Liberal Party ranks by publicly stating that a reduction in penalty rates for hospitality and entertainment workers should be cut to Saturday levels. Never mind cops and nurses, though… the politics of such a move are far too fraught.
And it doesn’t seem to matter that Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has declared this is a decision best left to the Fair Work Commission. In the traditional of renegade big ‘C’ conservatives in the Senate (think Bernardi, Abetz and Heffernan), Seselja ignored Cash's recommendation and applied a torch to the dry pile of kindling that is Australia’s reform agenda anyway.
Zed is a well-known supporter of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, so perhaps any calls for free market reform – ahead of the all-clear from Cabinet – could be viewed through a lens of disruption and trouble-making. However, the Senator is not known to miss an opportunity to advance his career, so the back-room machinations might be interesting.
Senator Seselja (R) with former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott
It’s not so long ago that the Senator staged a raid to topple on the Senate seat of Gary Humphries. It was all part of a post-ACT election dummy spit that saw Seselja look for other opportunities in politics after losing the local poll to a tram and Marriage Equality.