Oppn derails work safety bill
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Julia Gillard says states and territories had agreed on the new system. (AAP: Alan Porritt, file photo)
The stand off between the Federal Government and the Senate has claimed its first casualty.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that the bill to bring in uniform occupational health and safety laws around Australia will not proceed.
Ms Gillard says the business community has been calling for decades to have the same laws around the nation.
She says all the states and territories had agreed on the structure of the new system.
But Ms Gillard says she has pulled the pin because the Senate is amending the bill in a way that makes it too different from the format state leaders agreed to.
"I will go back to the Workplace Relations Ministerial Council and to COAG and I will see what, if anything, we can salvage out of this process," she said.
"I am not optimistic. I believe the Liberal Party's actions have wrecked and derailed a prospect of having model laws and model rules in this country."
But Opposition spokesman Michael Keenan says Ms Gillard has been arrogant and intransigent.
He says none of the non-government senators have agreed with the Federal Government's bill.
"The deputy Prime Minister is not prepared to engage, she is far too arrogant to do that," he said.
"Her idea of negotiation is to say 'I insist on having my way now and everyone else can go and whistle dixie'," he said.
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