Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

We were talking about the ABCC. I'm just looking at the time in terms of actually moving through them, because I do also have a number of questions in relation to the regulatory impact statement and the costs in that that I would like to ask you. I will go very briefly to the agreement approval, before I go to the costs in the regulatory impact statement. On page 125 of the revised explanatory memorandum, it states that changes in the bill to enterprise agreement approval requirements are intended to simplify requirements that need to be met for an enterprise agreement to be approved by the Fair Work Commission, which are often regarded as overly prescriptive and complex. One such source of complexity relates to section 181 and the way it's traditionally been interpreted by the Fair Work Commission in relation to which casuals can vote for an agreement. I understand that the government has indicated to employer groups that the changes contained in the bill will mean that the Fair Work Commission will take a less prescriptive approach. Employer groups are asking if that is the indication, that there will be a less prescriptive approach.