CCIWA has a proven track record of championing policy that will grow and diversify the economy.
At any one time, we are working on new policy papers, submissions to government reports and inquiries or responding to issues raised by CCIWA Members. Here’s a snapshot of our policy work over December 2024 – March 2025.
Policy highlight
In March, CCIWA released a report into the critical role that gas plays in WA. For the first time, gas producers and users have come together to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based picture of the role natural gas plays — and what’s at stake if investment in new projects stalls.
The report, developed with input from independent consulting firm Australian Venture Consultants, found that more than 50% of WA businesses rely on natural gas, beyond the use of grid electricity, including alumina refineries, cement producers, and healthcare services.
The report also found that an increase in gas supply could reshape WA’s economic landscape. Alternatively, an increase in gas prices, due to supply shortages, could devastate our economy, impacting the State’s economic activity by up to $42 billion under the ‘worst-case scenario’.
The report also found an additional $930 million reduction in economic activity in the manufacturing and construction sectors, with small businesses particularly hit hard. And this is before considering sectors such as defence industry, lithium processing, and data centres, which also rely on gas.
The report can be found here.
Focal point:
Featured in The West Australian on December 4, 2024
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs Better Pay) Act 2022 (Secure Jobs Better Pay Act) was due for review two years after it became law. The law was opposed by CCIWA, as it changed enterprise bargaining, representing a significant and retrograde step back to the rigid and inflexible policies of the 1970s and 1980s.
Consequently, we now have an environment where it is substantially more legalistic and complex for business, especially small businesses, to navigate relationships with employees.
In our first submission to the review, we recommended that parts of the Secure Jobs Better Pay Act be repealed entirely and regulations be amended. We also recommended the Productivity Commission review the Fair Work Act 2009, and employment related legislation (long service leave and super) with specific term of references focused on how best to improve labour productivity.
In our submission to the draft report, we concluded that most employment arrangements within Australia were impacted by the Secure Jobs Better Pay Act, which could cause weaker wage growth, slower economic growth, and less prosperity.
Our substantive submission to the review can be found here, and our response to the draft report can be found here.
In other Federal policy areas:
- In November and February, we successfully worked with the State Government to oppose the flawed ‘Nature Positive’ laws. The Prime Minister gave an iron-clad guarantee that the laws would not continue this parliamentary term.
You can see our November media release here, and our January media release here. Media reports included this article from November and this article from January.
- Our Federal Pre-Budget Submission focused on five key areas of reform: environmental approvals, the future role of gas in the Australian economy, industrial relations reform, regulatory environment for small and medium businesses, and fringe benefits tax on early education and childcare. The full submission can be found here.
- We welcomed the updated Core Skills Occupation List. In a sign the Federal Government has listened to industry concerns, the final CSOL details 456 occupations eligible to apply to enter Australia via the Core Skills pathway of the new Skills in Demand visa – up from 183. In CCIWA’s response to the draft CSOL, we called for faster approvals processes and consideration of more occupations to be included.
In other State policy areas:
- We hosted the Deputy Premier and Treasurer, Rita Saffioti, at a Business Breakfast. At the event, she announced a continued focus on approvals reform.
- Our State Election platform was launched on February 11, urging political parties to address WA’s growing pains. The platform provides an insight into our current and future advocacy, on behalf of our Members.
Quote of the month:
Peter Cock, media release March 11, 2025: Gas gives WA economy competitive edge, review finds
“We simply cannot afford to sleepwalk into a gas crisis… Natural gas is the lynchpin of our economy, so it’s time for a fact-based debate on the essential role it plays in WA’s economy today and what the impacts would be if we don’t support further investment in gas supplies for the future.”
To find out more about what we stand for, visit our Policy & Advocacy page.
