Source: Australian Mines and Metals Association – AMMA
AREEA has warned that the escalation of protected industrial action at INPEX’s Ichthys LNG operations reflects a deliberate union strategy to maximise disruption, not any breakdown in the employer’s willingness to reach agreement.
The Offshore Alliance has notified a further, more severe period of industrial action from tomorrow (11 June), extending stoppages and imposing new bans that affect the ability to maintain and restart the facilities.
The escalation comes after weeks of constructive, Fair Work Commission-facilitated interest-based bargaining in which substantial progress has been made and multiple offers have been put forward by the employer.
INPEX has applied to the Fair Work Commission under section 424 of the Fair Work Act for orders to bring the action to an end so that bargaining can continue.
AREEA Deputy Chief Executive Tara Diamond said the facts of the negotiation did not match the union’s public account of an immovable employer.
“This is not a case of an employer refusing to move,” Ms Diamond said.
“This dispute has been through weeks of bargaining facilitated by the Fair Work Commission. The majority of terms have been resolved. The employer has put forward a range of offer options – different pathways to a substantial pay increase, structured around the things employees have said matter most, whether that’s base pay, allowances or career progression.
“Employees covered by this agreement are already among the highest paid workers in the country. Under every option put forward by INPEX, they would receive pay increases well above the national average. The outstanding differences are now limited to a defined set of items. What has escalated is not the gap between the parties, but the union’s irresponsible tactics.”
Ms Diamond said an employer that had both tabled multiple offers and asked the independent umpire to help bring the dispute to a resolution was plainly not the party walking away from the table.
“Applying under section 424 is a legitimate and responsible step. It is a recognised mechanism in the Act for exactly these circumstances, and INPEX has been clear that its purpose is to allow bargaining to continue. You do not put a range of pathways to an improved agreement on the table, and ask the Commission to help resolve the dispute, if your intention is to refuse to bargain.”
AREEA said the defining feature of the dispute was not the content of the union’s claims, which had shifted over the course of the campaign, but the method being used to pursue them.
“The specifics of a claim can change week to week in a campaign like this. What hasn’t changed is the method – ambitious demands backed by escalating disruption, rather than genuine engagement with the offers in front of them,” Ms Diamond said.
“Declaring ‘war’ on an employer and resorting to inflammatory public messaging while a facilitated bargaining process is still on foot is not how reasonable agreements are reached. It is an irresponsible pressure campaign, coming at a challenging and dangerous time for Australia’s energy security, economic resilience and international trade.”
AREEA said the consequences of a disruption on this scale extended well beyond a single enterprise and fell first on the Northern Territory.
“Ichthys is the most reliable source of power for Darwin and supplies around half the Northern Territory’s domestic gas. A prolonged shutdown does not just affect exports – it threatens the energy that Territory homes, hospitals and essential services depend on,” Ms Diamond said.
“Beyond that, Australia’s value to its trading partners rests on being a stable and reliable supplier. Deliberately disrupting that supply at a moment of acute global tightness does lasting damage – not only to one operator, but to Australia’s standing as an energy partner.”
AREEA noted the INPEX negotiations are the first in a new offshore bargaining cycle extending to other major operators over the next two years.
“What is being tested here is whether disruption pays. The resolution of this dispute will shape bargaining conduct across the offshore sector for years to come – which is exactly why a return to genuine, good-faith negotiation matters so much.”
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