Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, President. Ms Price, who represents hundreds of community owned childcare centres, made the point that the agreement they had struck across a range of enterprises covers just under 60 services in Victoria. It delivers better wages, 16 per cent above the award, and she goes on to say that the centres are community owned, managed by boards and volunteers, and they don't have the financial resources and the expertise in IR to be able to negotiate an agreement themselves.

This is the kind of system that small businesses can take advantage of to avoid having big HR departments and to strike agreements with their workers, which is what they want. (Time expired)