House debates

Monday, 19 June 2017

Bills

Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take Home Pay of All Workers) Bill 2017; Second Reading

10:44 am

Photo of Rebekha SharkieRebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion, and I am very grateful to the member for Dawson for allowing me some of his time to talk about this important bill. I do second the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take Home Pay of All Workers) Bill—'all workers' bill—because I believe it gives a fair go for all workers and so I supported Labor's bill on penalty rates. The Nick Xenophon Team supported Labor's bill on penalty rates in the Senate. This bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take Home Pay of All Workers) Bill 2017, negates the effect of the Sunday penalty rates reductions for employees in the retail, fast food, hospitality and tourism industries, as set out in the decision of the full bench of the Fair Work Commission on 23 February this year. This bill goes one major step further than Labor's bill protecting penalty rates: this bill ensures that individuals who would lose their penalty rates and be worse off under a new enterprise agreement can instead revert to the award and receive the penalty rates contained within that award—what is contentious about that? Why should somebody who is only getting shifts on Sunday be out-of-pocket to the tune of $50 or more? Why should workers be penalised simply because they predominantly work on those days? I think they deserve penalty rates, and I think Labor should believe that those workers deserve penalty rates, just as the member for Dawson believes. If Labor truly believes in protecting vulnerable workers, such as young people who can only get work on Sundays or who are perhaps at university or at school from Monday to Friday; or mums who are stay-at-home mums but take those shifts on Saturdays and Sundays while their husbands are at home looking after the children—they deserve to receive penalty rates if those are the only shifts they are getting. This bill goes one step further in that it makes sure that those vulnerable workers are not penalised by enterprise agreements which seek to trade away their penalty rates and which act against their best interests.

This bill is measured. It is balanced. This bill is not talking about existing agreements, or indeed expired agreements. It only applies to new enterprise agreements, so that when unions are negotiating, yet again, on behalf of workers, there will be a better outcome—not just for the Monday to Friday workers who can afford to join the union but also for the most vulnerable workers who cannot afford to lose even the smallest amount of money for union fees from their pay cheques. Mr Deputy Speaker, why should they miss out on penalty rates simply because the union has negotiated away their rights? This is particularly so for those who are only working those weekend shifts. This now sits with Labor. This bill sits with Labor—you are on the Selection Committee; us mere mortals on the crossbench have no power to decide what private members' business is debated in this chamber. If Labor truly believes in protecting every worker, and if they truly believe in protecting the most vulnerable workers in Australia, then they will at least give those workers the opportunity to have their plight debated in this parliament.

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