Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I do not think Senator Collins is sitting in her usual seat. Undoubtedly she has had an enjoyable sojourn out of the chamber and is now back to make a contribution, which is always interesting. We say that the first aspect of the amendment is unnecessary and we are concerned about the consequences, especially when it says that an award must include a term that ‘requires an employer to whom the award applies to consult the employer’s employees to whom the award applies about major workplace changes that are likely to have a significant effect on the employees’. It makes sense that those sorts of changes may also have a significant effect on the share price, and there we have the conflict. That is why we as an opposition are opposed to this clause.