If anyone ever complained about the Westminster style of government, they got a good lesson on why they’re whinging wrongly after the crossbench in the Senate put the brakes on Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke’s bill overhauling what gig workers and other contractors will have to be paid going forward.

Former Wallaby Senator David Pocock wants the bill to be split, arguing he wanted “genuine loopholes closed and better protections for workers” but he doesn’t want small businesses using contractors to be punished because Minister Burke’s bill is too all-encompassing.

No one can argue that gig workers on bikes and in cars are being overpaid. Underlining how bad the situation is in this sector, the ABC tells us 13 of these ‘bikies’ have died on the roads in recent years.

The Minister says there’s no minimum standard for gig workers and that must change. "The reason they have no minimum standards is this: At the moment, you turn up to the Fair Work Commission, and the Fair Work Commission asks the initial question, 'Are you an employee?’” abc.net.au reports. "If you are an employee, you have a whole series of rights. If you're not an employee, all those rights — all of them — fall off a cliff. What we want to do is turn that cliff into a ramp." You can’t argue with that, but seeing Burke’s bill extend to normal contractors is something that needs to be looked at seriously. That’s why Senator Burke and Senator Jacqui Lambie want to delay voting on the possible legislation until it’s properly reviewed.

And it’s why Senator Pocock is all for slowing Burke down saying: “My strong preference is for the government to separate out the more straightforward and less contentious elements of this bill so the parliament can deal with them quickly.”

Teal MP Allegra Spender gave Burkey a mature economic lesson by asking: “Is it really the right time to introduce sweeping changes when we face persistent inflation, a slowing economy, and a productivity crisis, but haven’t fully processed last year’s IR laws?”

These were laws Pocock made happen, showing that he’s not a no-man. In November last year, the Senator, whose vote was critical for passage of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill, supported Labor’s proposed changes in exchange for a number of concessions.

As the SMH reported, Minister Burke keeps telling us that “…the bill aims to create base pay and conditions for gig economy workers and truck drivers, criminalise wage theft, give labour-hire workers the same pay rates as directly employed workers doing the same job, and make it easier for casuals to convert to permanent work.”

These seem like OK goals for a Labor Government. But with industrial relations, there are at least two parties in a relationship, but when it all becomes one-sided, relationships break down and problems become bigger not smaller. Hopefully, in the fullness of time the Parliament will come up with a better bill than Minister Burke’s.

Employer groups are happy that the Senate has forced the Government to make a better case for their bill or get a better bill! “Now is the opportunity for the federal government to go back to the drawing board to identify the problems they are trying to solve and make them clear to the Australian community,” said Business Council of Australia head Jennifer Westacott to the SMH.