His Master's Voice? Work Choices as a Return to Master and Servant Concepts

The Howard government's Workplace Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 (Cth) was a curious mixture of government retreat from the labour market and government intervention. This article suggests that an explanation for this conundrum can be found by examining the legislation through the lens of master and servant concepts and laws. In particular, the feudal concept of status, where the dominance of masters and later employers was regarded as a natural right, has particular resonance in Work Choices. I argue not only was the purpose of Work Choices the coercion of labour but its underlying attitude towards employees as inferior was so feudal and antiquated it required particular prescriptive clauses in order to bring employers with more contemporary attitudes to the employment relationship into line. The echoes of master and servant concepts in Work Choices demonstrate the persistence and adaptability of the law as an instrument of labour coercion.