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

The coalition will not be supporting Senator Pocock's amendment requiring a review to commence after two years of the legislation coming into force. This amendment then gives six months before the review needs to be completed and a further 15 sitting days before it needs to be tabled. Given where we'll be in the electoral cycle, this amendment will essentially mean that it will be at least 2.5 years—possibly three years or longer—before any review is actually completed and tabled in the parliament. The extreme changes being proposed by the government, which will pass this chamber shortly, need to be reviewed independently and much sooner, given the significant ramifications that this bill could have on Australian workplaces and the Australian economy. Most concerningly, this amendment doesn't even say that the review should be independent. There's nothing stopping the minister from getting his own department or one of his friends to conduct a review of the legislation and literally say glowing things which are not true. So we would argue, Senator Pocock, that it should be an independent review.

I understand you've also moved your amendment on sheet 1781, by leave, together. In relation to sheet 1781, the coalition will not be supporting Senator Pocock's amendment, which requires that the minimum bargaining period increase from six months to nine months. The amendment does nothing to make what is an incredibly bad bill any better. Businesses will still be forced to bargain against their own will, potentially with their competitors. This amendment will undoubtedly only lead to the words of businesses across Australia ringing true: more strikes and less jobs.