1991 (Mark VII). They later became the centrepiece of the Australian industrial relations system when the Accord was next revised in 1993 (Mark VIII). This ended nearly a century of centralised wage-fixing based industrial relations. Under the post-1996 Howard Liberal Government, increasing pressure was brought to bear on industrial relations reforms, aiming to reduce the industrial power of Australian trade unions. This included the introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements — individual contractual agreements on pay and conditions between an employee and employer — and the reduction of minimum conditions contained in Industrial awards. One of the first targets of the conservative Government was to undermine the power of the Maritime Union of Australia, through breaking its closed shop on waterfront labour. The 1998 Australian waterfront dispute resulted with the stevedoring firm, Patrick Corporation under CEO Chris Corrigan, attempting to sack its entire waterfront workforce of 1400 people through company restructuring. The Australian Council of Trade Unions condemned the sacking as a gross act of collusion between Patrick, the Government, and the National Farmers Federation, and with the threat of legal action against the Government and Patrick Corporation, a settlement was negotiated to allow some reform with the MUA retaining its effective closed shop. When the Howard Liberal Government won an unexpected Senate majority at the 2004 election, despite not being part of their election manifesto they took the opportunity to introduce WorkChoices, a decision which would ultimately seal their fate at the 2007 election. WorkChoices After the Howard Liberal Government's 2004 election victory, and with a majority in the Senate from 1 July 2005, changes to industrial laws to further reduce the collective bargaining power of trade unions continued. In May 2005 the Howard Government announced its Industrial Relations changes known as WorkChoices. This legislation received widespread criticism from the Australian union movement, many religious and community groups and, significantly (but not widely reported), the International Labour Organization, of which Australia is a member. On 30 June 2005, up to 100,000 people marched through Melbourne in opposition to the proposed industrial relations changes, with meetings also held in capital cities and regional towns around Australia. On 15 November 2005, the ACTU organised a national day of protest, during which the ACTU estimated 546,000 people took part in marches and protests in Australia's state capitals and other cities. The rallies were addressed by State premiers and religious leaders. Other notable Australians,