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

I don't know if you were here last night or earlier today when I said that the questions I ask are very specific, they're very genuine and they're in relation to statutory interpretation going forward, given that the records of Senate proceedings—including the records of where we are now, in the committee stage—can be utilised by others when they're interpreting what the government's amendments mean. I think you actually do political diatribe better than Senator Watt. I really do. I prefer your approach to it. But it doesn't assist statutory interpretation. It'll just be no, no, no, no. So now we go back to the actual answer to the question. To assist those going forward in terms of statutory interpretation, I just need to take you through this. This is a substantial amendment. You've had to bring forward this amendment because of representations made to you by particular industries. The issue I'm having is: the chamber doesn't have the benefit of a definition in relation to what 'reasonably comparable' actually means. With all due respect, I'm not asking you about appointments to the Fair Work Commission. I'm not going to question whether or not someone has expertise. I'm asking you: what is the guidance the government is giving to the Fair Work Commission in relation to 'the operations and business activities of the employer are reasonably comparable'?