Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

Again, we are going around and around in circles. We have discussed this on a number of occasions tonight. We have, as we have discussed, an employer and a union or unions that enter into negotiations for a greenfield agreement. The employer determines when they will start the clock on the six months. If the six months come up and the employer and the union or unions have bargained in good faith but for whatever reason have been unable to reach an agreement, as we have discussed, the employer has the opportunity to put an agreement to the Fair Work Commission for approval. It is merely a proposed agreement. The union must have been given a reasonable opportunity to sign the agreement that is being put to the Fair Work Commission for approval. The very clear intention is that the union would have had sufficient time to consider the agreement before it was submitted to the Fair Work Commission for approval.

When the Fair Work Commission is looking at the proposed agreement—I understand what you are saying; it is not an agreement yet but still a proposed agreement—one of the fundamental differences between what you legislated and what we hope to legislate tonight is that it has to look at the agreement in terms of the new requirement for an approval test and it needs to ensure that the agreement is in line with the prevailing standards in the relevant industry or equivalent work. So the Fair Work Commission itself, the independent umpire, will be the one determining this.