Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

No, Senator Abetz, it was not by media release; it was by correspondence. The government does not advise states and territories and significant stakeholders in the workplace relations system by media release. There may have been a media release that aligned in timing but certainly by correspondence we wrote to the parties that I highlighted. But I go back to your earlier point about the three months. The three months is an important guide to ensure that appropriate consultation occurs within the IGA but this is not a case of willy-nilly; this is the case of urgency for the entitlements of a significant number of employees. As I highlighted before, the government went through consultation processes that were only a few days short of the three months, but the important thing is that the government went through those processes and enabled states and territories to respond and indeed inform amendments that were moved through the House of Representatives.