Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

That calculator simply does not produce that result. It simply does not produce that result. That is absolutely nonsensical. This bill does a range of things with respect to underpayments to make sure that people get paid. It makes enterprise agreement-making quicker and faster. It works on ensuring that part-time permanent employees can get shifts and get paid more in circumstances where they're not presently getting shifts and being paid more.

This bill provides the first consistent, strong pathway to permanent employment from being a casual, and these are all things that Labor now oppose. As it was put in an article by Mr Phillip Coorey:

One Labor source said if these provisions became "collateral damage" then so be it.

So provisions that would ensure that people who are underpaid get protected, that's collateral damage now, is it? A small claims tribunal to ensure that people get paid properly becomes collateral damage. Changes designed to give permanent part-time employees the option to work extra shifts and earn more money if they want to, that's collateral damage now, is it?

You now oppose ensuring that there is a consistent strong pathway for an employee who wants to move to permanent employment from casual employment exists. And that is collateral damage.

You could have looked at this bill like you would look, for instance, at a menu in a Chinese restaurant. You could have looked at it and looked at the things that you say increase the ability to get back wages where people have been underpaid, to get more employment for people who are on part-time contracts, to get proper penalties for wage theft, to make enterprise agreements simpler—

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