Labor and the Greens have voted against Coalition amendments that would have provided businesses with certainty that they wouldn't need to unionise to qualify for a tax cut, confirming Labor's tax credits come with additional and unnecessary red and green tape.

Both Labor and the Greens rejected amendments that would have ensured companies wouldn't be required to secure a union agreement, implement a Reconciliation Action Plan, or undertake extra environmental or Indigenous consultation or assessments beyond current state or federal legal requirements.

Labor and the Greens also voted against protections that would have prevented tax credits from being reduced if companies failed to meet these criteria.

This will only compound business concerns that the “Community Benefits Principles” will be used as a back-door for union agreements, additional environmental or heritage consultation. These concerns were raised extensively at the Senate Economics Committee by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Business Council of Australia, the Minerals Council of Australia, and the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) told the Senate Economics Committee that firms benefitting from Future Made in Australia policies, “should be required to have an enterprise agreement with the relevant trade union/s registered or enter the relevant multiemployer bargaining stream.”

Treasury officials confirmed the cost of applying for these tax credits will be $130,000 for the first year and $22,000 every year after, and that the tax credit can be reduced based off how a company complies with “Community Benefits Principles”.

Labor also voted with the Greens to prevent the tax credit being used to support uranium mining.

There can be no downstream processing industry in Western Australia if businesses are tied down in red and green tape just to compete.

Labor’s tax credits will not deliver a cent for two years and are more about the social objectives of Labor and the Greens, not economic objectives.

The Coalition will support our mining industry and the future of Western Australia’s resources industry by cutting red and green tape, lowering taxes, increasing approvals, and delivering reliable, affordable clean energy. 

The Coalition will get Australia back on track, a Labor-Greens minority government will only send Australia backwards.

ENDS.