Three big things have happened with the passage of the second half of the ‘Closing Loopholes’ Bill through Federal Parliament on Monday.

One is world leading, one is not far from it, and one is playing catch up with the rest of the world. A fourth big thing happened a couple of months ago, with passage of the first half of the Bill.

Self-employment has changed in recent years. It’s been both shrinking and becoming more precarious. Proportionately, there are fewer business owners and there’s more gig work.

The reality is getting further away from what many have imagined.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently announced that the federal government’s much-anticipated package of climate industry policies will be delayed by at least another six months.

He cited concerns over skills shortages and environmental approval wait times before moving ahead with new measures to stimulate renewable energy and related industries in Australia.

The concerns raised by Mr Chalmers are real, and need attention. But the industrial opportunities of the net zero transition will not remain forever. Australia can’t wait for the perfect moment before responding to the rapidly changing global industry conditions – and in particular Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

One of the most important aspects of the government’s Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill is the detailed provisions covering gig workers. Those provisions account for 100 pages of the 284-page bill.

For the first time in decades, Australia is talking about industry policy. And the interest is coming from all sides.

At Labor’s recent national conference, the Electrical Trade Union (ETU) led a successful motion demanding the Commonwealth government invest big money to support domestic clean technology industries.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) released last week a report that called for a reinvigorated government industry policy to develop advanced manufacturing and renewable sectors, among others.

Several landmark reports, including by the Centre for Future Work, have all reached the same conclusion: Government must invest big in industry policy to accelerate the clean energy transition and build Australian renewable industries.

Business, unions, and civil society are all singing from the same sheet. Clearly, something has changed – but why?

The surprising thing about the Albanese government’s announced reforms to “casual” employment is not that they’re happening. It’s that employer advocates are getting so excited about them, despite the small number of people they will affect and the small impact they will have.

That’s not to say the changes aren’t needed. Rather, true reform of the “casual” employment system, of which this is just a first but important step, has a lot further to go to resolve the “casual problem”.

The odds have been shortening on the Reserve Bank of Australia lifting interest again, and Australia’s workers are again being blamed for driving inflation.

Harvey Norman chairman and executive director Gerry Harvey is one of the business leaders flamboyantly warning higher wages will lead businesses to cut staff numbers or increase prices, making it harder for the central bank to get inflation down to its 2–3% target.

This follows the decision of Australia’s industrial relations umpire in its Annual Wage Review last week. The Fair Work Commission granted a 5.75% increase to award wage rates, and an 8.6% increase to the minimum wage.

But there are good reasons this decision won’t have a material impact on inflation or interest rates.

Last month’s New South Wales election ejected the final mainland Coalition state government from office. As the dust has settled, it isn’t just Chris Minns’ Labor Party which has emerged victorious; public ownership – particularly of Sydney Water – has been resoundingly endorsed by NSW voters. It is now safe to say: privatisation is politically dead in Australia.

The Carmichael Centre at the Centre for Future Work is proud to announce the appointment of Prof. David Peetz, one of Australia’s most outstanding labour policy experts, as the new Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow.

Prof. Emeritus Peetz has recently retired from a long career at Griffith University, where he served as Professor of Employment Relations at the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing.

The Carmichael Centre within the Centre for Future Work is pleased to announce the launch of a new podcast project titled Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today, presented by the Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow, Dr Mark Dean, and comedian and ecology researcher, Duncan Turner.

Laurie Carmichael believed that a worker-centred agenda for technological change was important to achieving better outcomes for society, with workers and their unions playing a pivotal role in shaping technology and skills for social progress.

The films reviewed in Yesterday's Tomorrow Today often depict the opposite of a worker-led future of technological change. It’s the aim of the podcast to break down what this looks like, and to suggest what an alternative future - one that benefits workers and humanity - might look like.

Listeners of YTT can expect podcast episodes to feature accessible political-economic analysis laced with good humour, reflections on accurate (and not-so-accurate) predictions of a future shaped by the neoliberal surveillance state, and a rotating list of special guests, including Dr Jim Stanford, Lily Raynes (Anne Kantor Fellow at the Centre for Future Work), Matt Grudnoff (Senior Economist at The Australia Institute) and more to come.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to leave a review – this is what helps other listeners to find and subscribe to YTT, making sure we can keep reaching working people far and wide.

You can find the first episode - a review of 1987’s RoboCop - and what it warned us about deindustrialisation, gentrification, privatisation and police militarisation, here (also available on Apple Podcasts & Google Podcasts).