H. R. Nicholls Society

The HR Nicholls Society
Established1986
ChairFrank Parry KC
Websitewww.hrnicholls.com.au/

The HR Nicholls Society is an Australian advocacy organisation focused on industrial relations reform,[1][2] founded in March 1986 by Ray Evans, an Australian businessman and political campaigner.[3]

The Society advocates for the deregulation of Australia's industrial relations system, including the abolition of the award system and the use of individual employment contracts. The Society is led by Executive Director James Mathias, appointed in February 2026.[4]

Regular contributors to the Society's publications have been Ray Evans, Adam Bisits and Des Moore, the Director of the Institute for Private Enterprise. Adam Bisits was the President of the Society until 2017, replacing Evans,[5] who stepped down in 2010.

History

Founding

The Society is named after Henry Richard Nicholls,[6] an editor of the Hobart newspaper The Mercury, who in 1911 was prosecuted for contempt of court after publishing an editorial critical of H. B. Higgins, then President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, accusing Higgins of behaving in a politically partisan and unjudicial manner after attacking a barrister.[7] Nicholls was acquitted by the full bench of the High Court.[8][9]

The Society was established in March 1986 following a seminar organised by Evans, John Stone, Peter Costello, and Barrie Purvis to discuss the Hancock Report and industrial relations reform.[10][11]

Activities and growth

In early 2006, Federal Finance Minister Nick Minchin caused controversy in a speech at a Society function, acknowledging that the public did not support the Coalition government's industrial relations agenda but arguing that reform must continue.[12][13][14][15]

In 2007, the Society criticised the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation arguing that rather than deregulating the labour market, it had created more regulation. The Society compared the model to 'the old Soviet system of command and control' and criticised it on federalist grounds for centralising power in Canberra.[16] Society President Ray Evans warned that Howard had 'assumed an omnipotence that Labor will inherit and to which no mortal should aspire.' [17]

Decline and revival

After a period of declining activity, the Society last held a conference in 2017 and lost much of its membership. In June 2023, The Australian Financial Review reported that Victorian Liberal MP Louise Staley would seek to lead a revival of the society. The revived society would "support growing business opposition to Labor's upcoming laws to regulate gig workers, labour hire and casual employment".[18]

In February 2026, the Society appointed James Mathias, a former Coalition staffer and deputy director of the Menzies Research Centre, as its new executive director.[4] As of 2026, the Society's membership is estimated at fewer than 200.[4]

Positions and advocacy

The Society advocates for the deregulation of Australia's industrial relations system, including the abolition of the award system, the widespread use of individual employment contracts, and lower minimum wages. It argues that excessive regulation and inflexible employment conditions lead to higher unemployment and lower productivity, and has consistently framed its agenda in terms of Australia's international competitiveness.[19]

The Society's stated objectives include promoting discussion of industrial relations, supporting the rule of law for both employers and employee organisations, reforming the wage-fixing system, and ensuring labour relations support economic development.[20]

Influence and reception

In 1986, then Prime Minister and former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Bob Hawke, branded the Society as a group of "political troglodytes and economic lunatics".[21]

References

  1. ^ "HR Nicholls Society". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 15 September 1986. p. 2. Retrieved 11 December 2013. - letter to editor HR Nicholls Society is not an ideological think-tank. It is a discussion group concerned with industrial relations reform
  2. ^ "New Right or Old Wrong? Ideology and Industrial Relations" article by Braham Dabscheck in Journal of Industrial Relations doi:10.1177/002218568702900401 JIR December 1987 Vol. 29 No. 4 425-449, accessed 17 September 2010
  3. ^ Kelly, Dominic (22 June 2014). "How Ray Evans, warrior of the new right, changed Australia". The Age. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Hannan, Ewin (19 February 2026). "Think tank calls to redefine small business, affecting two million workers". The Australian. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Board members". www.hrnicholls.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016.
  6. ^ Bate, Weston (1974). "Nicholls, Henry Richard (1830–1912)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  7. ^ "A modest Judge". The Mercury. Tasmania. 7 April 1911. p. 4 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ R v Nicholls [1911] HCA 22 (1911) 12 CLR 280 at p.286 ("if any Judge ... were to make a public utterance of such character as to be likely to impair the confidence of the public ... in the impartiality of the Court ... fair comment, would, so far from being a contempt of Court, be for the public benefit")
  9. ^ "Inside Business: IR changes bring unlikely alliances". ABC. 26 March 2006.
  10. ^ Stone, J. "HR Nicholls: Let's Start All Over Again: The Origins and Influence of the HR Nicholls Society". www.hrnicholls.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
  11. ^ "The HR Nicholls Society and its Work". www.hrnicholls.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 September 1999.
  12. ^ "Minchin seeks 'new wave' of IR change". AM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 March 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Think-tank invite infuriates union". The Australian. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007.
  14. ^ "Union dominance a danger: PM". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007.
  15. ^ Australian Labor Party : Senator Nick Minchin And The HR Nicholls Society; Alp Internal Matters
  16. ^ "IR changes bring unlikely alliances". ABC. 26 March 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  17. ^ "When will Our Leaders Stop Shackling the Free Market?". The Age. Australia. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  18. ^ Martin-Guzman, David (4 June 2023). "HR Nicholls Society resurrected to combat Labor's workplace laws". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  19. ^ Peter Hartley. "The Effects of Minimum Wage Laws on the Labour Markets". www.hrnicholls.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 January 2002.
  20. ^ "The H.R. Nicholls Society". The H.R. Nicholls Society. 19 February 2026. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  21. ^ "The Aims of the Society". www.hrnicholls.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014.
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