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

Thanks, Senator Cash. I don't think that Senator Cash has accurately characterised what I've said. The bill is very clear, that employers who employ fewer than 20 employees may not be added to a single-interest employer agreement or authorisation without their agreement. If there are 20 or more employees then there are additional tests that need to be met for an employer to be added to a single-interest employer agreement. In short, they have to have clearly identifiable common interests with other employers. As I said, the factors that the commission can take into account in determining whether employers have a common interest include—include—geographical location, regulatory regime, the nature of the enterprises to which the agreement will relate and the terms and conditions of employment in those enterprises. In addition to that, for a business that employs over 20 employees, they also have to be demonstrated to be reasonably comparable to the other businesses. That is what is actually provided for by this bill, rather than however Senator Cash might try to characterise it.

In addition to all that, and as Senator Cash would be aware, the government has reached agreement with Senator David Pocock that we are making an additional amendment which provides that for employers with 50 or more employees, the onus is on the employer to establish that it is not a common-interest employer or that its operations and business activities are not reasonably comparable with the other employers. But for businesses employing fewer than 50, the onus is on employees to establish that.