Lest Speccie readers think I am obsessed with the destructive behaviour of B1, the Climate Change and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, let me assure you I haven’t forgotten B2. Tony Burke has now moved on from destroying the industrial relations system during his short tenure as Employment and Workplace Relations minister. He is now the Minister for Home Affairs, Immigration, the Yarts and a few other bibs and bobs I have forgotten.

It sounds a lot and don’t forget he is also Leader of the House, a role he plays with all the aplomb of a jumped-up schoolboy debating champion. But it has to be borne in mind that the Department of Home Affairs has been completely gutted by the Albanese government.

Rather than being a department that has the prime overseeing role in matters related to domestic security, it is now a shell of its former version under the Coalition.  The Australian Federal Police were quickly moved out, to be supervised by that other perennial underperformer, Mark Dreyfus, the Attorney-General. Asio has now likewise been shifted.

Let’s face it, Labor doesn’t think security on home soil is a big deal. It’s unlikely ever to be threatened and if it is, the perpetrators of any threats are either misunderstood or have come from disadvantaged backgrounds that justify their actions. Why have a big, scary-sounding department?

For B2, being the Minister for Home Affairs is really now just being the Minister for Immigration. And this is precisely what Albo has in mind: B2 can be the fix-it man; the person in parliament with all the answers, no matter how misleading; someone who can remove immigration as a large negative for the Labor government. He can sound tough while doling out favours to electorally important constituents.

Perhaps B2 is even slightly relieved to be giving up his industrial relations role. He was really there for one thing: to deliver on the union movement’s long list of demands for legislative and regulatory changes. Akin to an over-the-top bridal registry, Burke decided to supply the entire list without any concern for the associated economic damage or the legitimate objections of employers.

That’s the brotherhood for you, particularly when money and delegates are involved. To be sure, there are a few sisters, including ACTU secretary Sally McManus and ACTU president Michele O’Neil. But the real power still rests with the men.

Of course, first cab off the rank was the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a specific demand of the CFMEU. All that chat from Burke and Albo about the ABCC dealing only with trivial matters, such as the flying of the Eureka flag at building sites, was just a diversion.

The reality was that the ABCC had been responsible for the imposition of many millions of dollars of fines on the CFMEU and its officials. The union wanted it gone. B2 delivered, along with some gormless senators who should have known better. I’m not including the Greens here because they have been in bed with the CFMEU for a long time.  Senator David Pocock may have been a good rugby player, but his grasp of public policy matters is frighteningly thin – and that’s being kind.

It’s worth going through some of the other favours that B2 doled out to his union mates. A lot of them are about trying to promote – or should that be force? – more workers to join unions. Let’s not forget here that the rate of unionisation has been in free fall for decades and is now well below 10 per cent in the private sector. Overall, just 12.5 per cent of the workforce belongs to unions.  Members equal money and influence.

In addition to easing any restrictions on unions’ right of entry to workplaces for whatever reason, B2’s new legislation – it is hilariously called Secure Jobs, Better Pay because government edicts can ensure these outcomes, not – also contains some extraordinary privileges for union delegates. A workplace can have just one union member for these rights to kick in. Union delegates must be given time off from their work; be given resources to undertake union training, sometimes off-site; and have unfettered access to other workers to discuss union matters as well as recruit new members.

When it comes to casual work – the unions don’t like casual work because casuals are less likely to join up than permanent workers – a new multi-prong test applies.  Unless employers are expecting workers to be short-term and to have intermittent shifts, the default position is that all new employees should be permanent. There are substantial penalties for employers who misclassify workers.

Having ruled out implementing multi-employer agreements before the election – good one, Jimbo – the new legislation specifically provides for them. What this means is that the scope for any genuine enterprise-based bargaining is tightly restricted because of the backdrop of agreements applying across the board.

This makes life so much easier for the unions. Pick off the softest touch among a group of employers in an industry, do a very generous deal and then insist that the terms flow through to all the other employers. Needless to say, the very idea gives economists palpitations. But this wouldn’t have worried B2 at all. There are already some cases afoot that will use this new section of the legislation.

The point is that B2’s work was largely done in the field of industrial relations. With every new legislative provision in effect from late August, it’s not a bad time to move on. He will avoid answering any questions in parliament related to his previous portfolio responsibilities – Albo may be put on the spot, however – and won’t be directly wearing the fallout from the radical and unjustified changes to the law.

When small businesses, including family-owned ones, are hit by the new requirements, particularly the complexity of the casual work provisions as well as the rights of union delegates, B2 will be looking in an entirely different direction. When wage inflation and sinking productivity become even greater concerns for economists and the Reserve Bank, B2 will be busy handing out permanent residence visas to those fleeing Gaza.

You have to hand it to B2. Unlike B1, he is a very popular with his caucus colleagues. Doing right by the unions who put them into parliament is a certain pathway to high esteem. Is he a likely successor to Albo, you ask.

At this stage, his stocks are running higher than Jimbo’s, the other most likely contender. His budget this year vanished without trace in the week it was delivered. Ongoing high inflation and associated high mortgage rates are not the means of achieving popularity with fellow Labor parliamentarians. He may be a good talker but it’s the message that’s his problem. Watch out for B2, he may head Jimbo off at the pass.