Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

That of course is going to the bizarre length which is not at all within the parameters of what I was mentioning, because it would be very hard to argue that it was unreasonable or impracticable for the duty holder—in this case, the manager—to have a person there on site, supervising at all times the work of the subcontractor. So in those circumstances that will be an extra cost and a reduction in productivity. The question then is: if the duty holders have to consult with each other, and do consult, are they able to contract out of their obligations in this legislation by asking, or by getting one party to agree, that they will take over the responsibility of both the manager and the controller of a particular site?