Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Hundreds of thousands of Australian workers rely on penalty rates. Penalty rates are there to recognise workers for making the sacrifice of working when others are not. They are also often the only thing helping workers make ends meet. Cutting penalty rates for our lowest paid workers will have a devastating impact on families on the Central Coast in the electorate of Dobell. A cut to penalty rates is a cut to take home pay that workers cannot afford and do not deserve. The Prime Minister made an unprecedented call over the weekend, saying that he supported cutting penalty rates. It is unconscionable that a Prime Minister would commit to making it even harder for families to make a living.

The government is sitting on its hands and will support cuts to the wages of some of the lowest paid workers in Australia, with up to 770,000 Australians losing up to $77 per week. As our leader said this morning, that is a tank of petrol or a pair of shoes for a student going back to school. That is putting food on the table. That is a uni student being able to make ends meet and get to class. It means people having to work longer hours for less pay, women being disproportionately affected and regional communities like mine on the Central Coast of New South Wales having less money to spend in our already difficult economies. Cuts to Sunday and public holiday penalty rates will not end with the hospitality, retail, fast food and pharmacy awards. This is just the beginning, and it is being ideologically driven by this government. Nurses, firefighters, aged-care workers and others will be the next to face these drastic cuts, and others can also expect no support from the Prime Minister or the government for having their wages slashed as well.

I was at Lake Haven Shopping Centre in Gorokan, and a young single mum I spoke to works nights and weekends in retail to make ends meet. Penalty rates mean she earns just enough to pay the bills for her and her young daughter. Working nights and weekends, with the help of her family, means that she does not have to find extra money for child care, which would see her moving backwards financially.

My nana Elaine worked in retail her entire life. She was a proud member of the shoppies and bravely stood with other workers to improve their conditions. It could have risked her job and that of her friend Lola in trying to make it safe to go to work and to come home. Through their efforts—the efforts of my nan and her brave friends—other workers were able to have basic conditions, to support their families and to have dignity in work.

I am very pleased that there are members of the SDA visiting this parliament today. I ask everybody to make the time to listen to them and to hear the first-hand experience of young women like Jasmine who are so affected by these cuts. I stand here today really on behalf of my nan Elaine and her friend Lola. They would be devastated to see the cuts to the basic conditions and the loss of fairness and dignity in work, which they, standing side by side with their colleagues, saw introduced and which now are at risk.

At Lake Haven shopping centre recently, when I had my mobile office, I met with locals about their concerns about losing penalty rates. We started at 3pm with a line up already waiting and we did not leave until every last person had signed that petition after 7pm. There was a great sense of community with people signing the petition to stand up for their own penalty rates and the penalty rates of their friends and family. They were concerned by the knowledge that other industries would be hit next.

On the Central Coast there are pockets of extreme disadvantage. The unemployment rate for young people sits at just under 17 per cent. We know that penalty rates are helping people get by. Whether it is students completing their TAFE training or university or whether it is young families starting out in life, we know these cuts will hurt them. They are cruel cuts which will hurt the most vulnerable in our community. As a health worker, I know that uncertainty at work can have drastic health impacts. As someone who has worked in mental health for most of my life, I know how severe the consequences of uncertainty at work can be to individuals and their families.

I congratulate the member for Herbert for standing and speaking on this motion and drawing it to the nation's attention. I proudly stand with her to protect the penalty rates of others.

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