"During the course of the 1999 Safety Net Adjustment hearing, after hearing the parties' submissions, we decided to separate a review of the Wage Fixing Principles from considerations relating to the Safety Net Adjustment. In doing so, we rejected the employers' submission to the contrary.

The application now before us, to the extent that it seeks to adjourn this review until the outcome is known of current federal proceedings concerning the Safety Net Adjustment case for 2000, is slightly different. However, it seems to us to come down to the same thing-that Safety Net Adjustments and review of Wage Fixing Principles should occur contemporaneously. We are reinforced in that view by the fact that, in these proceedings, the employers rely on the same grounds as those relied on in the 1999 proceedings.

We do not believe it is open to us to revise our 1999 decision as to its substance, since it was a decision taken with the benefit of full and comprehensive submissions as distinct from the brief propositions, necessarily so, that were put to us today. We are also of the view that the Industrial Relations Bill currently before the Parliament affords no grounds for supporting an adjournment of this review because there is nothing in it, in our opinion, that impinges upon or affects the Wage Fixing Principles. In that context, concerning the 1999 proceedings, we remind the parties that the content of the Bill was not then known.

In the circumstances, we refuse the adjournment application in relation to this review.

We now issue the following directions, which are somewhat slightly amended from those that we invited the parties to address at the commencement of these proceedings. We have amended them slightly to take account of some aspects that the parties brought to our attention.

The parties are to let us have written submissions on the following issues:

(a)  whether and on what grounds we should abolish the Wage Fixing Principles in their entirety;

(b)  whether and on what grounds we should amend the Wage Fixing Principles by abolishing some principles and/or retain others with or without amendment.

Written submissions on the above matters, including full details of proposed amendments, must be in our hands in triplicate, with copies to other parties, by the close of business on Friday, 5 May 2000.

We propose to reconvene these proceedings on 9 May 2000 for the purpose of hearing the parties in relation to such explanatory comments as they might wish to make regarding:

(a)  their own written submissions; and

(b)  the submissions of other parties.

At the conclusion of that process, we would expect to reserve our decision.

There is nothing in our directions that, in our opinion, should operate to prevent the parties from conferring and from negotiating outcomes in relation to any or all of the matters to be considered by this review. Indeed, we would encourage such an approach.

That concludes our directions in relation to the Wage Fixing Principles Review process."