Now, seven months after the old agreement expired, talks on a new deal are bogged down over the regulation of working hours with staff at the agency unhappy about the amount of unpaid overtime they have been working. Mr Joyce's office declined to answer questions and directed inquiries to the corporation. But the technical union Professionals Australia is furious, saying Mr Joyce's tardiness had cost the corporation's 64 scientists, researchers and bureaucrats their pay rises. The union's ACT Director Dave Smith said the minister could have approved the deal before the new bargaining framework was imposed on 160,000 public servants. "Minister Joyce didn't approve it despite having the capacity to do so," Mr Smith said.

"Instead he allowed it to come under the new framework and consequently the negotiations have fallen apart. "The GRDC has had to start again and 4 months later has not been able to get back to the bargaining table." The union official said the minister could still seek exemption from the tough bargaining framework for the GRDC because it is mostly funded through a grower levy rather than directly from government funds. "Again if the Minister had some backbone he could argue that the GRDC, as a largely industry funded body with conditions of service distinct from the APS, be exempt from the framework," Mr Smith said. "The main issue in the agreement has been regulation of hours – staff have been working hundreds of unpaid additional hours because of their commitment to the job."

The corporation's Managing Director John Harvey said that any new deal offered to his staff had to meet "affordability and productivity" criteria of the bargaining framework. "GRDC is currently evaluating options around these criteria while seeking approval from Australian Public Service Commission and Department of Finance to commence negotiations," Mr Harvey said. The managing director said the deal submitted to Mr Joyce earlier in the year did not make the cut of the bargaining framework's tough rules. "The Draft Agreement did not comply with the 2014 Bargaining Framework," Mr Harvey said. "The effective negotiation of an Enterprise Agreement is a priority for GRDC Management. GRDC Management is engaging with the APSC and Department of Finance to ensure that the bargaining position GRDC develops meets the requirements under the 2014 Bargaining Framework."