Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party, Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

Part-time workers don't; they work on Saturdays and Sundays because they're at school during the week. I'm talking about school students. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants to stand here and say that we're for cutting penalty rates. The Fair Work Commission came up with the decision, and we respect the independence of the Fair Work Commission. We weren't on our own.

In 2010 the Fair Work Commission reduced weekend award rates in restaurant awards. The shadow minister at the time was the current opposition leader. He did not say boo. In 2014, when he was the opposition leader, weekend awards were reduced. Not only did he not say anything; the shadow minister for industrial relations actually respected the outcome of the decision, saying, 'That's what the Fair Work Commission is there to do.' Why? You put it in place. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition put the Fair Work Commission in place between 2007 and 2009—and the Leader of the Opposition has the gall! When he was a union leader, CleanEvent lost all penalty rates on weekends, no matter who you were, under their EBA. The Leader of the Opposition had a personal involvement in that. This is the reality of where we find ourselves.

The topic of the MPI is 'this government's failure to respect the contribution of Australian workers'. What are we doing for Australian workers? We're not just talking; we're actually doing something. There's the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Act and $21 million of additional resources to the Fair Work Ombudsman to make sure that employers not paying their people in the right way are caught and prosecuted—as they should be. The Turnbull government does not stand beside any business that does the wrong thing by workers. Indeed, it empowers the watchdog, the Fair Work Ombudsman, to do their job.

The Leader of the Opposition, when he was in charge of the portfolio, drastically reduced the resources to the Fair Work Ombudsman and cut their staff as well. When the protecting vulnerable workers bill was sent to the Senate, what did they do? They voted against it. They say one thing here and they say another thing when it suits. The inconsistency is across the board. It's across all things. Yet they say they are protecting Australian workers.

Again, those opposite like to talk about the rise and the threat of the gig economy. The Fair Work Ombudsman two weeks ago brought action against Foodora. The system is working exactly as it should—

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