Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources inquiry into the mining and resources industry. It's entitled Keep it in the regions: mining and resources industry support for businesses in regional economies. Having read the recommendations of this report, I think it is quite remarkable that government members, who will not lift a finger for workers in this parliament, want to pretend that they support recommendations providing support for workers in this sector of our economy and in their electorates. We've been watching now for some time members of government asserting support for workers in their electorates, and yet, whenever the opportunity arises to support workers in the parliament, they go missing. They go missing because there's a big difference between word and deed. It's one thing to say something; it's another thing to do something.

The member for Dawson, who has now just joined us, and the member for New England, who of course has suggested they support workers in Queensland and around the country, are really just outrageously lying to their electorates. The reality is: the member for Dawson is someone who says one thing and yet refuses to support workers when he is here. We saw that with his confected support for penalty rates. We saw the member for Dawson pretend to support labour hire workers. Of course he doesn't support changing labour hire arrangements; otherwise he would support Labor's position on 'same job, same pay'. He does not. We've heard the member for Dawson say he supports restoring penalty rates, but, when his bill was moved by the opposition, he refused to vote with the opposition except if the motion was going to fail. In fact, he pretended that there was going to be back pay arising from that order, which was never true, as his justification for no longer supporting a position he said he was supporting in his electorate.

We have heard, time and time again, the member for Dawson saying one thing to the constituents in his seat but acting very differently in this place. This recommendation, which, as I understand it, has been ostensibly supported by the member for New England and the member for Dawson, is in keeping with that. They say one thing and yet do another. There have been ample opportunities in this parliamentary term, and indeed in the last parliamentary term, for members of government, if they were interested in looking after working people, to cross the floor and support Labor's position. The Leader of the Opposition moved a private member's bill to restore penalty rates. Where was the member for Dawson when that private member's bill was being considered and when we were seeking to have that private member's bill enacted? He was voting with the government to stop bringing that bill on in the House to be enacted. Again and again, the member for Dawson—and now we've got a new arrival, the member for New England—pretended to be the workers' friend. Well, we know that is not the case, and increasingly the constituents of Dawson also know that is not the case.

Labor, of course, have been announcing policies to respond to the fact that wages are falling in this country in many sectors of the economy. Wages have been flatlining as a result of the failures of the government to respond to any concerns of working people, and we have seen the growth of insecure work.

The government likes to pretend there's been no change to casualisation. I'll just use one statistic. The ABS has said that 29 per cent of Queensland's workforce are deemed to be casual. Add to that other workers who are not getting enough work, part-time workers who are not getting sufficient hours and so-called independent contractors who are not genuinely independent contractors and you see a problem in the labour market that's not being addressed by this government. In some ways, the government members who choose not to support this have more integrity than the member for Dawson, because the member for Dawson says one thing but does the exact opposite in parliament. At least those members of the government who don't want to do anything don't go and tell their constituents that they will do something. That's what the member for Dawson does; he says one thing and does another.

For the last five years, Labor has been announcing policies to respond to two key areas. Firstly, we need to see Australians get a pay rise. This government has presided over the lowest wage growth in a generation. For the last five years, wages have been flatlining and they continue to be a real problem for households. That's why household debt is growing in this country.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:51 to 17:38

I want to continue to reflect upon the recommendations of this committee's report. As I understand it, the committee has done some good work, and you'll hear about that from some Labor members of parliament who sat on the committee. To that extent, I'm happy to defer to the committee members in relation to the good work done on the recommendations that have been made. But I think it is important that I point out the disingenuousness of the recommendation that's been initiated by government members, even though it's certainly supported by my Labor colleagues—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:39 to 17:51

As I was saying, I understand there was some good work undertaken by the committee and I'm sure other members will reflect on that. But I just wanted to make clear that whilst government members have supported a recommendation that would appear to respond to problems in the labour market, we have real difficulty believing the sincerity of those government members. There are real problems in the labour market. Job security is a growing problem for many, many workers. Wage growth is at an all-time low; it is the lowest wage growth in a generation. But we don't see the government attending to these things, and I think that's chiefly because they have a callous disregard for working people—an indifference at best. They have an enmity towards unions that might represent employees, and it is that ideological predisposition that really does underline their motives and their inclinations.

So whilst it may well be that government members, members of a government divided, seek to resonate in their communities about the real crying need for labour market reform, we don't see anything happening in the chamber. We don't see anything happening on the government benches. They're not to be believed. In the end it's your deeds, not your words, that you should be judged by, and there is no reason whatsoever to believe government members are genuine in their concerns about job security, whether Australians get a pay rise or ensuring that workers get a place at the bargaining table. There are no policies enunciated by the government that reflect these concerns. For that reason, whilst I wouldn't agree exactly with its construction, I agree with the tenor of the recommendation that goes to making changes to the Fair Work Act and making improvements to workers' lives. We have great difficulty believing it is a proposition genuinely held by those government members.

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