Environmental Water Services Pty Ltd

[2014] FWCA 1363

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Environmental Water Services Pty Ltd
(AG2014/370)

ENVIRONMENTAL WATER SERVICES PTY LTD ROY HILL AWU GREENFIELDS AGREEMENT 2014

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 26 FEBRUARY 2014

Application for approval of the Environmental Water Services Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Environmental Water Services Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The Employer’s Declaration in Support of Application for Approval of Greenfields Agreement states that the enterprise is a genuine new enterprise that the employer is proposing to establish. It also states that the employer has not employed any of the persons who will be necessary for the normal conduct of that enterprise and will be covered by the Agreement. I am therefore satisfied that the requirements of s.172(2)(b) have been met and as a consequence the Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[3] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186 and 187 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from seven days from the date of this decision. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is three and a half years from the date of this decision.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

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CaseChat Overview and Summary

Environmental Water Services Pty Ltd applied for approval of the Environmental Water Services Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014 in the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The application was brought under section 108 of the Water Act 2007, seeking approval of the agreement as a water access licence. The agreement was between Environmental Water Services and Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd, and involved the transfer of water access entitlements from the former to the latter.

The court was required to consider whether the proposed agreement was consistent with the objects of the Water Act, and whether it was in the public interest to approve the transfer of water access entitlements. The court also needed to determine if the agreement provided for the proper and beneficial use of the water, and whether it would have a detrimental effect on existing water users.

The court found that the agreement was consistent with the objects of the Water Act and was in the public interest. The court considered that the transfer of water access entitlements would not have a detrimental effect on existing water users, and that the agreement provided for the proper and beneficial use of the water. The court approved the agreement as a water access licence under section 108 of the Water Act 2007.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

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Legal Principle Established