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

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading amendment, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). The amendment was introduced by NSW Senator Maria Kovacic (Liberal)

Amendment text

Omit all words after "That", substitute:

"(a) the Senate notes that:

(i) Australian small businesses have been hit with a new compliance burden almost every month since the Albanese Labor Government came to office,

(ii) evidence shows that small business owners spend 15 hours per week on compliance instead of running their business,

(iii) the Albanese Labor Government has refused to prepare a Regulation Impact Statement for this bill and has no idea how many small businesses are going to be affected by this increased burden, and

(iv) instead of developing a clear and focussed plan to address the needs of small businesses within the economy, the Albanese Government seems intent on only applying a larger regulatory burden on them; and

(b) further consideration of the bill be made an order of the day for the first sitting day after the Government tables a Regulation Impact Statement assessing the impacts of the bill".