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

I'm happy to withdraw, Madam President. The direct answer to the question from Senator Cash is that, as Minister Burke has made clear on many occasions, the government accepts that there are legitimate uses for labour hire in the workforce, particularly in areas such as surge, temporary replacement or specialised workforces. But, as I was saying the other day, when Senator Cash asked me a question about this, if an employer has an enterprise agreement and agrees to certain minimum rates of pay then that employer should not be able to use loopholes within our industrial relations laws to undercut the wages they have agreed to. That's what this is about.