O'Connor Greg; Wood MichaelPart 3 Preliminary requirements: initiating bargaining and forming bargaining sidesCHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): We come now to Part 3. This is the debate on clauses 26 to 61 Preliminary requirements: initiating bargaining and forming bargaining sides". The question is that Part 3 stand part.Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): I've got just a few remarks to introduce Part 3. As the Chair has said this part relates to the initiation of bargaining and the forming of bargaining sides. This is an important part of how fair pay agreements are established. In the first instance unions and workers are required to initiate for fair pay agreements. There are broadly two pathways—a representation test and a public interest test—for that. Those are described in some detail in this part. There is then an obligation on unions to engage in a notification process to make sure that other unions but also employers are aware of that fair pay agreement being initiated after it has been approved by the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE).In terms of some of the changes for the consideration of the committee here the Education and Workforce Committee—I've said this before—I think they've made some quite useful changes and clarifications there. In respect of the public interest test the select committee has recommended back to the House and this committee that this be clarified to ensure that for a public interest test to be met both low pay and one other factor have to be considered. It's effectively narrowed the test from what was originally proposed in the legislation where it could be any of those factors that were taken into account. It's now clear that it has to be pay and at least one other factor before the public interest test can be met.Then in terms of coverage—we touched on this previously—there is clarification that in the initiation process the union should in the first instance endeavour to describe coverage for the use of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations and the Australia and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification codes. That is about being as clear as possible about who will be covered for the purposes of the bargaining of fair pay agreements noting that the parties could agree to different coverage through the course of the bargaining but that's quite an important point and I think will provide much-greater clarity which does address one of the questions which kept coming up from submitters.In the Supplementary Order Paper 264 that I have put forward the main change for the committee to be aware of is that there were some additional indicators effectively for MBIE to assess whether the public interest test had been met. On further consideration and in response to general submissions that were received around simplifying things as much as possible those additional indicators have been removed from the legislation. MBIE will simply need to assess whether a public interest test has been made against the core criteria that are in the legislation.So there are a number of issues there. I'll be happy to take any questions that do relate to those matters and other matters that are in Part 3."