The Green’s party leader, Richard Di Natale, wants to provoke a national debate about cutting the Australian working week.
Senator Di Natale used a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday to start the conversation about a four-day work week or six-hour work days.
The Green’s proposal for a 4-day work week has it’s supporters and opponents. Hear both sides: https://t.co/rkmRuDK1dZ #auspol pic.twitter.com/gb1jZJFevb
— ABC NewsRadio (@ABC_NewsRadio) March 15, 2017
Senator Di Natale encouraged others to question the idea that a good life can only come from work.
“We’ve got, in Australia, people doing more hours than any other developed nation on earth,” Di Natale said in an interview on ABC’s Lateline on Tuesday.
The Greens have a Better Work/Life Balance bill from the 2013 federal election that addresses this issue. According to the bill the average working week in Australia is 44 hours, a figure that is the highest in the Western world.
The bill states that Australians complete $72 billion worth of unpaid overtime every year.
“We talk about the 16 per cent of people who want to work more hours, but we never hear about the more than one-in-four Australians who want to work less,” Senator Di Natale told the National Press Club.
“A four-day work week or a six-hour day might actually make us happier and create more opportunities for others, not to mention reducing the costs of full-time child care.”
According to companies who have adopted the shorter working week, the reduced hours are good for everyone – including the boss.
US software company, Basecamp CEO Jason Fried’s staff work 32 hours instead of 40 a week in the warmer months of the year.
In a 2012 New York Times editorial entitled “Be More Productive. Take Time Off”, Fried reveals his employees’ work was better during the six weeks of shorter hours.
“When there’s less time to work, you waste less time. When you have a compressed work week, you tend to focus on what’s important. Constraining time encourages quality time,” he wrote.
The Greens have not introduced a specific model but Senator Di Natale insists it’s a conversation Australia needs to have.
“It’s a conversation that has to involve the business community, the unions, workers,” he said.
“We have to start it, we have to ask ourselves those questions and at the moment we’re just not doing that.”
Many have taken to social media to discuss Senator Di Natale’s idea.
Conservative Liberal Backbencher Eric Abetz was also quick to share his opinion on the matter. In a media release, Senator Abetz described Senator Di Natale’s speech as “delusional, out of touch and dangerous.”
.@SenatorAbetz responds to National Press Club address from @RichardDiNatale – “Loony Greens deliver delusional spiel” #auspol #npc pic.twitter.com/96QuZwfvIW
— ABC NewsRadio (@ABC_NewsRadio) March 15, 2017
Whether people agree with Senator Di Natale’s plans or not, one thing is certain: he’s definitely sparked a debate.
