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

Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for the Environment and Water) (12:00): We respect the fact that the Fair Work Commission is independent in the decisions it makes on particular cases. We respect the fact that they have discretion when they make their decisions, and we don't want to overly constrain the Fair Work Commission in terms of what they have to consider and what they can't consider.

We're setting a principle for the commission to be governed or guided by. Then it's a matter for the commission to interpret the particular facts of a case.