Speeches & Opinions

Read speeches and opinion articles by ACTU officers and staff.

Our collection contains speeches delivered at conferences, forums, summits, rallies and events by Executive and senior ACTU staff. It also contains op-eds previously published in mainstream media by the ACTU President, ACTU Secretary or ACTU Assistant Secretaries.


Recent Speeches & Opinions

Dave Oliver: A race to the bottom on wages and conditions is a dead-end strategy for the auto industry

June 24, 2013

In the search for cost savings and efficiencies, unions will seek to engage with auto industry employers to achieve greater productivity through the high road of high performance and high trust workplaces, not the low road of cutting wages and conditions, or creating a more insecure workforce, writes ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver.

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Dave Oliver address to CEDA ‘State of the Nation’ conference, 24 June 2013

June 24, 2013

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver addressed the Committee for Economic Development of Australia ‘State of the Nation – Australia Adjusting’ conference on 24 June 2013.

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Ged Kearney address to ‘The Accord 30 Years On’ symposium, 31 May 2013

May 31, 2013

In a speech on the 30th anniversary of the Prices and Incomes Accord, ACTU President Ged Kearney reflected on the legacy of the Accord for the union movement today, and called for a new tripartite approach to economic challenges at an industry level in the spirit of the Accord.

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Dave Oliver address to the Australian Industry Group, 6 May 2013

May 6, 2013

In an address to the Australian Industry Group’s PIR Conference on 6 May, 2013, Dave Oliver discussed industry policy, industrial relations policy, and the relationship between unions and the Ai Group.

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Tim Lyons address to the ALP National Policy Forum, 4 May 2013

May 4, 2013

In an address to the ALP National Policy Forum, ACTU Assistant Secretary Tim Lyons sets out a Labor/labour vistion for the economy and government that is about raising and protecting living standards.

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Ged Kearney: Why do we stand for sweatshop labour?

May 1, 2013

The Rana factory disaster in Bangladesh wasn’t the first of its kind – and it won’t be the last while workers in the developing world are denied basic rights, writes ACTU President Ged Kearney

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Ged Kearney address to the Victorian ALP State Conference, 21 April 2013

April 21, 2013

In her Plenary Address to the Victorian ALP State Conference on 21 April 2013, ACTU President Ged Kearney said that insecure work was an issue around which the industrial and political wings of the labour movement could unite and campaign together.

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Ged Kearney address to the 8th Asian Regional Congress of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association

April 11, 2013

ACTU President, Ged Kearney addressed the 8th Asian Regional Congress of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 11 April 2013 on the the Industrial Relations Reform Agenda.

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Ged Kearney address to National Community Summit, 13 March 2013, Canberra

March 13, 2013

In her opening address to the National Community Summit: Creating Secure Jobs and a Better Society in Canberra, on 13 March, ACTU President Ged Kearney explored reasons for the growth of insecure work and proposed a new social compact for Australia.

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Ged Kearney speech at the launch of the Fair Work Ombudsman Report on Internships, Work Experience and Unpaid Work , 28 February 2013

February 28, 2013

ACTU President Ged Kearney spoken on “Unpaid Work Experience: A Union Perspective” at the launch of launch of the Fair Work Ombudsman Report on Internships, Work Experience and Unpaid Work in Melbourne on 28 February 2013.

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