Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It has been interesting to sit here and listen to the contributions from the member for Bendigo and the member for Lilley to this debate on the motion moved by the member for Bendigo. It is a pity that they have not stayed to listen, because they might learn a little bit.

The member for Bendigo said that the government had to put a case to the Fair Work Commission. The fact is, the government does not need to put a case to the Fair Work Commission, because it is the job of it fair work commissioned to make decisions on penalty rates. Who it was who gave the Fair Work Commission the responsibility to make decisions in relation to penalty rates. It was the Leader of the Opposition when he was in government as the minister for employment relations who did that. So all the froth and bubble we have just heard from the room member for Bendigo the member for Lilley is complete and utter hypocrisy. Whatever those opposite have to say on the matter of penalty rates is complete and utter hypocrisy.

We have just heard the member for Lilley say what a great deal it is for members of unions to have their penalty rates wrapped up in a higher base rate of pay. Let us reflect on that for a minute in relation to the employees of Coles and their EBA. The member for Petrie mentioned Cleanevent, but I will mention a more recent one, Coles. The Fair Work Commission, as a result of an action brought by a Coles employee, whose union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association, opposed his motion to contest the EBA and supported Coles position, found that the 2015 Coles EBA failed the better-off-overall test that the member for Lilley was just waxing lyrical about, but he could not be bothered to stay here and listen to the reality of what is going on.

What is the cost of that to the 43,000 retail employees that the member for Bendigo and the member for Lilley said we should be looking after? We should be looking after them and we should be making sure that they get paid their appropriate rate of pay, but it was their union, the SDA, and the Australian Workers Union with Cleanevent, who let down their members—in this case some 43,000 employees of Coles. The cost to those employees is estimated at somewhere between $70 million and $100 million a year. Do I hear those opposite say to the SDA and Coles that they should ensure that those employees get paid what the Fair Work Commission rightly found they should have been paid? No. There has been not a peep, not a whisper, out of them. A church mouse would make more noise on this issue than have those opposite.

The problem is that not only has this given Coles and unfair competitive advantage against people like Aldi, IGA and others, who do pay the proper minimum wage and the proper penalty rates. We have just listened to complete hogwash from the member for Bendigo and the member for Lilley. This is all because of a law passed by the Leader of the Opposition when he was last in government. He and his team can wax lyrical all they like about protecting workers rights and penalty rights, but as usual we need to look not at what the Labor Party says but at what the Labor Party does. What the Labor Party has done is let down the members of the unions—the employees of the big employers—whom they purport to protect, because that is the reality of what has happened.

We have not heard a peep out of them about this. Why is that? That is a very good question. I have not heard any response anywhere from the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow minister for employment workplace relations or the shadow assistant minister for workplace relations. Why do they not hold to account this union and the big employers to make sure that these hardworking retail employees are paid what they are due to be paid. (Time expired)

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