Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave––I'll speak on this motion. A number of us on this side of the chamber have been deeply concerned about the fact that while some decisions had to be made through this pandemic, particularly in relation to international borders, the big concern that we had was the follow through in being able to determine how you look after people whose livelihoods would be affected when you make the decision to shut the borders. In this case, and what the member for Ballarat will move in her motion, is the impact on aviation workers. This has been huge. Some of it is understandable, but what is unforgivable is the fact that when the calls have been made to look after people whose jobs have been affected in the area, it has been neglected. I know from constituents in my area who work for air services group dnata, for instance, who desperately wanted to be included in JobKeeper and had anticipated they would be. Finally, at the last minute, the Treasurer, who lectures us today about what we should support based on what's good for us in our electorates, when we approached him to support dnata workers, the Treasurer refused to do the right thing. It has been the same where people have been waiting for things to happen in Qantas or other parts of the aviation sector. I notice the member for Kingsford Smith is here. He is deeply concerned about the effect on the jobs of his constituents. We've been hearing nothing but silence. It is completely unacceptable, and I want to flag my strongest support for the member for Ballarat's motion. We have to have this on the floor of parliament to be debated. There are too many people depending on this to be fixed up that are being ignored by this government.

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