Federal bureaucrats have denied relying on an online article penned by a “spiritual healer” in modelling costs businesses would have to bear under multi-employer bargaining reforms.
Opponents to the Secure Jobs,Better Pay bill seized on evidence in a last-minute hearing on Tuesday that heard department officials footnoted a webpage “How Much Should I Charge As A Consultant in Australia?” on,prompting claims they Googled parts of crucial research.
![Coalition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash accused bureaucrats of Googling research.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/95dd291456994c61eb07fddd36c3148cec3a164b)
Coalition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash accused bureaucrats of Googling research.Rhett Wyman
The article’s author,Benjamin J Harvey,is described on the website as “a cross between business strategist,modern day spiritual healer,and self-development expert”.
Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said bureaucrats in the Department of Workplace Relations had “Googled rather than consulted” over the wide-ranging legislation,which has sparked a business backlash over its multi-employer bargaining provisions.
But a departmental spokesperson said in a statement the first website link in question was “incorrectly included” in the impact statement. There was no response regarding the second.
“The hourly consultancy rate used in estimating bargaining costs involved consulting a broad range of sources,” the spokesperson said.
“This approach has been used previously by the department and was approved by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
“In this instance,the department utilised rates for an IR manager,IR adviser and HR admin role in Sydney from the Hays salary checker.”
According to the regulatory impact statement accompanying the bill,small businesses with a staff of 15 or less who are grouped into negotiating with employees across several companies under the low-paid or “supported” bargaining stream,will foot $14,638 each,including the cost of external help.
The forecast costs for businesses factored in hours spent negotiating and external consultant fees.
Asked by Cash how the department arrived at the figure of $175 per hour for a consultant,department first assistant secretary Jody Anderson said figures in the impact statement were “usually standard costs”.
However,the footnote for the cost references a website for Authentic Education,and titled,“How Much Should I Charge As A Consultant In Australia?”
“Which member of the department Googled how much should I charge as a consultant?” Cash asked the panel. Anderson replied,“I’d have to take that on notice.”