Voters support calls to put price cap on power to ease rising energy bills; Jacqui Lambie senators, David Pocock want more time to scrutinise Labor’s workplace reforms; Australian among those killed in South Korean Halloween stampede; wives of Islamic State fighters arrive in Sydney

Unbiased ACT senator David Pocock says he’s open to passing parts of Labor’s key industrial relations reforms this yr.

Nevertheless, he has reiterated that he needs extra time to cope with the extra contentious parts of the invoice at present earlier than parliament (for instance, the federal government’s push for multi-employer bargaining).

“I’m not right here to be a rubber stamp regardless of agreeing with a variety of the weather of this invoice,” Pocock advised Radio Nationwide.

“We’ve already discovered a number of drafting errors. So I believe it actually does warrant extra scrutiny. And that’s the job of the Senate. I wish to be sure that I’m throughout it, that I seek the advice of extensively with folks within the ACT, and that we in the end find yourself with higher laws and industrial relations reforms that can really ship for staff.”

As common readers of this weblog will know, enterprise teams are involved that Labor’s invoice – if it turns into regulation – might result in industry-wide strikes.

Nevertheless, there are parts of the invoice that many see as much less controversial (equivalent to making it unlawful to promote jobs that pay beneath the minimal wage).

Additional background to this debate is obtainable right here.