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David Peetz

Professor of Employment Relations, Griffith University

David Peetz is Professor of Employment Relations at Griffith University, where he has worked for over a decade. He previously worked at the Australian National University and in the then Commonwealth Department of Industrial Relations, spending over five years in its Senior Executive Service. He has been a consultant for the International Labour Organisation in Thailand, Malaysia and China, and undertaken work for unions, employers and governments of both political persuasions. He is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Yes, government influences wages – but not just in the way you might think

Apr 12, 2025 09:55 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

Can the government actually make a difference to the wages Australians earn? A lot of attention always falls on the governments submission to the Fair Work Commissions annual wage review, which this year called for a real...

Chance for genuine industrial relations reform thrown under the omnibus

Dec 17, 2020 11:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

When Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the formation of five working groups of employers, unions and government officials in June 2020, he signalled an unexpected twist to industrial relations reform. Some...

What if we measured the thing that matters most: "carbon productivity"

Oct 26, 2019 08:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology Economy

Ask any economist a question, and you will usually get the answer: productivity. The winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, Paul Krugman, set the standard in 1994: Productivity isnt everything, but, in the...

There's an obvious reason wages aren't growing, but you won't hear it from Treasury or the Reserve Bank

Sep 10, 2019 20:39 pm UTC| Insights & Views Central Banks

Wages growth for Australian workers is among the worst in the industrialised world. For more than a third of workers on individual contracts, wages arent growing at all. This is odd, given Australia is in a record 28th...

What the stoush between the federal government and the CFMMEU is really about (spoiler: there's an election coming)

Sep 24, 2018 06:30 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Since Malcolm Turnbull was ousted as prime minister, we have seen a renewed focus by the federal government on targeting union officials. The latest, and also most enduring, target is the Construction, Forestry,...

Finance drives everything — including your insecurity at work

Aug 14, 2018 04:23 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

Theres a common link between the many things that have promoted insecurity at work: the growth of franchising; labour hire; contracting out; spin-off firms; outsourcing; global supply chains; the gig economy; and so on....

The government is belatedly backing the penalty rates cut it always wanted

Mar 27, 2017 09:11 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

Its impossible for the government to substantially ease the hardship for workers from the Fair Work Commissions decision to cut some penalty rates as the governments submission into its implementation illustrates. Nor can...

Economy

EA's $15B Debt Offering Draws $25B in Investor Demand Amid Credit Market Turmoil

Investor appetite for large-scale leveraged buyouts remains surprisingly robust, as demand for Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) nearly $15 billion debt package has surged to approximately $25 billion. The offering, led by...

Federal Reserve Crisis: DOJ Standoff Threatens Powell's Succession and Rate Stability

A deepening legal battle between the Federal Reserve and the Department of Justice is rattling financial markets and raising serious questions about the future of U.S. monetary policy leadership. At the center of the...

U.S.-Iran War Escalates: Marines Deploy, Strait of Hormuz Closure Drives Global Oil Crisis

The United States is sending an additional 2,500 Marines to the Middle East as the ongoing war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran enters its third week with no clear end in sight. The deployment includes the USS Boxer...

Gold Prices Extend Losing Streak, On Track for Worst Weekly Loss Since 1983

Gold prices continued their downward trend on Friday, marking eight consecutive days of losses and heading toward their steepest weekly decline in over four decades. Spot gold dropped 3.4% to $4,494.44 per ounce, while...

Iran War Fears Send Oil Prices Surging as U.S. Weighs Ground Troop Deployment

Oil prices climbed sharply on Friday despite a volatile trading session, as alarming reports of potential U.S. ground troop deployment into Iran rattled energy markets already under significant stress. Brent crude futures...

Politics

Trump's Shifting War Goals Against Iran: A Timeline of Contradictions

Since launching joint military operations with Israel against Iran on February 28, President Donald Trump and his administration have struggled to maintain a consistent narrative around the conflicts objectives, duration,...

Cuba Rejects U.S. Demands to Remove President Diaz-Canel Amid Ongoing Negotiations

Cuba has firmly pushed back against reports that its political leadership or governmental structure could be part of any negotiation with the United States. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio made clear at...

U.S. Prosecutors Scrutinize Colombian President Petro in Drug Trafficking Probes

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has emerged as a peripheral figure in two separate U.S. federal criminal investigations tied to narco-terrorism and drug trafficking, according to a source familiar with the matter who...

Trump Signals U.S. Nearing End of Military Goals in Iran War, Shifts Hormuz Responsibility to Regional Nations

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States is close to achieving its military objectives in the Iran war, signaling a potential drawdown of American forces. In a post on Truth Social, Trump also...

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Restrictive Press Access Policy

A federal judge has struck down the Trump administrations controversial Pentagon press policy, delivering a significant victory for press freedom advocates and independent journalism across the United States. U.S. District...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Palantir's Maven AI Earns Pentagon "Program of Record" Status, Reshaping Military AI Strategy

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) is drawing renewed investor and industry attention after the U.S. Department of Defense officially designated its Maven Smart System as a program of record, a classification that...

Amazon's "Transformer" Phone: Can It Succeed Where Fire Phone Failed?

Amazon is quietly developing a new smartphone, codenamed Transformer, marking the companys return to mobile hardware more than a decade after its Fire Phone disaster. According to sources familiar with the initiative, the...

Judge Dismisses Sam Altman Sexual Abuse Lawsuit, But Sister Can Refile

A federal judge has dismissed a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by his sister Annie Altman, ruling that the claims were too old to pursue under current law. However, U.S. District Judge Zachary...

Trump White House Unveils National AI Policy Framework for Congress

The Trump administration released a sweeping artificial intelligence policy framework on Friday, urging Congress to establish unified federal legislation that would override fragmented state-level AI regulations across the...

Jeff Bezos Eyes $100 Billion Fund to Transform Manufacturing With AI

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in early-stage discussions to raise a massive $100 billion investment fund focused on acquiring manufacturing companies and accelerating their automation through artificial intelligence. The...