Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The direction can only be given if the employee cannot be usefully employed for normal hours because of changes. But the final and most interesting problem is that it is the exact opposite of the position that they had earlier argued. The member Watson said, 'Well, you have to look at the good will that's out there.' And he referred to an agreement between the Australian Hotels Association and the United Workers Union. He said: 'For full-timers, they'll be able during this time to significantly cut how many shifts they've got but keep them on the books. Businesses understand how important it is to keep these people on the books.' And what was that with respect to? A reduction down to 60 per cent of the hours—exactly what we are doing now except that, at the time that they supported it, there were no protections built in.

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