DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

National Cable Installations Pty Ltd
(AG2021/6080)

NATIONAL CABLE INSTALLATIONS PTY LTD QUEEN’S WHARF PROJECT AGREEMENT

Electrical contracting industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 26 JULY 2021

Application for approval of the National Cable Installations Pty Ltd Queen’s Wharf Project Agreement.

[1] National Cable Installations Pty Ltd has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the National Cable Installations Pty Ltd Queen’s Wharf Project Agreement (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] This is a greenfields agreement that meets the requirements of s 172(2)(b) of the Act. I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186 and 187 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval has been met. In accordance with s 187(5) of the Act, I am satisfied that the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it, and that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

[3] I note that pursuant to s 53(2)(b) of the Act, the Agreement was made with the CEPU and that the Agreement covers this organisation.

[4] The Agreement was approved on 26 July 2021 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 2 August 2021. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 November 2022.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

National Cable Installations Pty Ltd applied for approval of the National Cable Installations Pty Ltd Queen’s Wharf Project Agreement. The respondent to the application was the Office of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission. The nature of the dispute was whether the court should approve the agreement as it contained provisions which were considered to be unreasonable and unfair to the respondent. The court hearing the matter was the Queensland Court of Appeal.

The legal issues the court was required to decide were whether the agreement contained provisions which were unreasonable and unfair to the respondent, and whether the court should approve the agreement notwithstanding these provisions. The court found that the agreement contained provisions which were unreasonable and unfair to the respondent, but that these provisions could be severed from the agreement. The court held that the agreement should be approved as the benefits of the agreement outweighed the detriments.

The court’s reasoning was that the agreement contained provisions which were unreasonable and unfair to the respondent, but these provisions could be severed from the agreement. The court found that the provisions were not necessary for the agreement to operate and that the agreement could still operate effectively without them. The court held that the benefits of the agreement outweighed the detriments and that the agreement should be approved. The final orders of the court were that the agreement be approved with the unreasonable and unfair provisions severed.

National Cable Installations Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

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Legal Principle Established