Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025

Senator KOVACIC (New South Wales) (11:50): So if it's primarily a defensive mechanism then why wasn't there a retrospectivity element written into the bill? I note that Professor Andrew Stewart had specific questions about the drafting of the bill that were left unanswered by the department. So I'd like to get an understanding as to how these decisions were made in relation to both what the impact of the bill would be in not drafting it in a manner that would preclude retrospectivity and when it's said that the Fair Work Commission can deal with it anyway, which then means that the Fair Work Commission has even more work to do.

Why wouldn't you model both of those things when there's a significant impact, both on the commission and on existing award terms?