Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Small Business. I refer to the minister's previous answer. Can the minister now confirm that the government's regulatory impact statement predicts that the cost for small businesses to negotiate in the new multi-enterprise industrial relations system is between $14,000 and $75,000?

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. As the member opposite would be aware, more than two million businesses are actually exempt from the single-interest stream bargaining system—90 per cent of all Australian businesses, that is. He would also know, as I said earlier, that many businesses already incur costs and that many businesses are already covered by their employer peak organisation. He would also be aware that our expectation is that most small businesses would be in the cooperative stream, where they can use off-the-shelf agreements.