Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020. This bill really highlights the massive difference between those in the Morrison government and those of us in Labor. Over there, we have the Liberals and Nationals. They're cutting JobKeeper, cutting JobSeeker, cutting superannuation and now cutting wages and conditions. When this industrial relations bill was introduced, Labor set a really simple test. We made it clear we would oppose it if it cut workers' pay and cut job security. That's exactly what this bill does.

The government might have removed the most extreme part of the bill regarding the better off overall test, but they did that under much pressure, of course. But even without it, the bill still represents a fundamental attack on the rights of workers, an attack that we have not seen since Work Choices. We see them dropping these changes to the better off overall test, but the fact is that they still want to pursue changes like that. We know it and all Australians know it. Even with it taken out, this still makes workers worse off. This legislation still makes it easier for businesses to employ people as casuals, even when they work just the same as permanent workers. The fact is that no-one believes this government when it comes to pay and working conditions. People won't forget this government's attempts to cut their pay again. Particularly people in regional and rural Australia won't forget. As I often say, National Party choices hurt, and they really hurt people in the regions. Here they are yet again trying to cut the pay and conditions of those hardworking people in regional Australia.

The government said the better off overall test provisions detracted from the rest of the bill, so now we can focus on the rest of the bill. Let's do that. It's still bad. It's still very, very bad. The bill will still make jobs more insecure and lead to pay cuts. Let's have a look at the summary of the bill. First of all, it makes it easier for employers to casualise jobs that would otherwise have been permanent. It makes bargaining for better pay and conditions more difficult than it already is. It allows wage cuts. It takes rights off blue-collar workers on big projects. It weakens wage theft punishments in jurisdictions where it was already deemed a criminal act.

We all remember when this government last cut penalty rates for retail, fast food, pharmacy and hospitality workers. At the time the government very falsely claimed it would create new jobs. Well, it created none—not a single extra job. Even business groups now admit that. Now the government expects us to believe that cutting penalties rates more, cutting overtime, cutting shift loading and cutting allowances will actually create jobs. They're spinning the same story again. We don't believe them. That's why we will always keep fighting against cuts to workers' conditions. We will do that because this bill leaves Australian workers much worse off by cutting the wages, conditions and rights of Australian workers. Make no mistake about what the agenda of this government is.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth in insecure work and wage stagnation were major issues for Australian workers and for our economy. The pandemic exposed the fact that too many people in this country are in low-paid insecure employment. Casuals, contractors, freelancers, labour hire workers and gig workers—these vulnerable workers, the ones who can least afford it—were hit first and hit the very hardest by the impacts of the pandemic. The fact is that working people either have been the essential workers supporting the country during the pandemic or have suffered the most from the economic impacts of the pandemic, and now the government is punishing these very hardworking Australians. The bill still includes changes to part-time work that will effectively end up casualising it. Australian workers know they cannot trust a Liberal-National government with their wages and conditions. In its current form, the bill represents a failure to protect the interests of those essential workers who really carried us through the pandemic. As I've said, this bill will lead to a reduction in workers' rights across the country, and its impacts will be greatly felt, particularly in regional areas like my electorate on the New South Wales North Coast. As we look to an economic recovery from the pandemic, these cuts in workers' rights and pay represent a present and real danger to our very fragile economic recovery.

The fact is that workers, those whom we've really relied on to keep us safe during the pandemic, need the protection of good workplace laws. The working people of our country have already sacrificed the most and have paid the highest price: almost a million people unemployed and 1.25 million underemployed. And, of course many workers have already used their sick leave, annual leave and long service leave. When the pandemic hit we saw such a huge economic impact, of course—over two million Australians now either out of work or looking for more work. We know that casualisation is at record highs. Nearly a third of Australian workers are in insecure work. There are also four million workers who are engaged as casuals, on short-term contracts, through labour hire or as independent contractors. It is wrong that two workers doing the same job are being paid different rates. That's just not fair. As I've told the House before, when this pandemic hit, the effects upon regions like mine were very extreme, and I continue to see many locals and businesses in my community under extreme pressure. Some businesses have been forced to close permanently for extended periods due to the economic impacts of the pandemic. Many of our frontline essential workers who put themselves at risk just by showing up for work in the pandemic are still doing this today, and I thank them.

Of course, other workers have managed to get by with the help of JobKeeper, a wage subsidy that Labor called for very early on in the pandemic. As we know, at the end of March JobKeeper stops and the JobSeeker subsidy will be slashed. This will have severe economic impacts. We've always said that any support in the economy should be tailored and responsive to what's actually happening in those local economies, and I've consistently called for specific assistance for regions like mine. We know that some parts of the Australian economy are recovering, but many communities and many industries are still struggling and shouldn't be left behind when the government cuts JobKeeper and also cuts the JobSeeker subsidy in March. The government should be looking at and considering options to provide targeted support beyond March for the workers, small businesses, industries and communities which are still doing it tough. Indeed some of the hardest-hit industries are those that were disproportionately excluded from JobKeeper, with many casuals in retail, hospitality and tourism.

On the New South Wales North Coast, we were one of the hardest-hit areas, with massive increases in the number of recipients receiving income support payments such as JobSeeker and youth allowance. Locally in my area, we know that the entertainment, music and creative industries, the tourism sector and university staff from Southern Cross were all unable to access JobKeeper and the vital support that they needed. They were all left behind, especially those casuals in so many industries. Figures from last December show that in my electorate there were approximately 9,000 local businesses and organisations that were accessing JobKeeper support. That is a massive number.

In response to all this, what do we see? Now we see the Morrison government, rather than extending JobKeeper subsidies for suffering businesses, actually introduce legislation that will make workers worse off. It's really hard to believe that in the middle of a pandemic, when workers are struggling to make ends meet, the government would actually move to cut people's pay and conditions. It is consistent though with the Morrison government's approach to workers in general. Eight years of flatlining wages growth is directly linked to eight years of this Liberal-National government. Now, in the toughest of times, they're looking to cut pay and conditions.

These proposed cuts are unfair. They are not only detrimental for workers but also bad for the economy now, especially regional economies. For the regions to recover we need people earning decent wages and spending that money in our regional economies. When wages are cut, our local economies suffer and our regional economies suffer. But this government wants to make work less secure and wants to cut the take-home pay of Australians. As I said, last year was a very tough year for so many people in our regions with the COVID-19 crisis. With the job losses and the overall economic situation we're now in I will continue to call for that necessary targeted assistance for our regional economies.

The pandemic has exposed the risks to workers and to the national economy of insecure work. When the pandemic began, casuals, who account for about a quarter of the workforce, lost their jobs eight times faster than those in more secure forms of employment. One million casual workers were excluded from JobKeeper, forcing so many of them onto Centrelink queues. When you add all those other forms of insecure work, so many people were impacted. We know too that, if you're a woman, young or from a migrant background, you're more likely to be employed in insecure work. Here we have this government, just like with Work Choices before, pushing so hard to lessen job security.

In contrast to the Morrison government's harsh laws that will weaken job security and cut pay, under Labor's workplace policies more workers will be able to plan for their futures with so much more certainty. Under a Labor government, Australian workers will benefit from more job security, better pay and a fairer industrial relations system. Being in secure work is so incredibly important. It means people can access a bank loan to buy a home or start a business. It means they can take leave when they're sick or look after their loved ones without putting their jobs at risk. It means they can have the confidence to spend money in our local regional economies, which boosts growth and creates more local jobs. Under Labor's workplace policies, more workers will be able to plan for their future with certainty. People in regions like mine continually tell me that they cannot plan because their work is insecure. They need that certainty. Labor's plan for more secure jobs with better pay does stand in very stark contrast to the Morrison government's changes, which would just make it a lot worse for workers.

I also take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our incredible frontline workers, particularly our healthcare workers, aged-care workers and disability-care workers, who have been working so hard to protect our communities through these challenging times through the pandemic. We are all incredibly appreciative of the great work you've done supporting some of the most vulnerable in our community. I also especially thank our police and emergency service workers for continuing to protect us all in these incredibly difficult times.

I say to all those workers: 'Labor are on your side. We stand with you and we thank you for your incredible work during the pandemic in these immensely challenging times. Labor will, as we always have, continue to fight for your rights at work—for fair conditions and for a fair day's wage for a fair day's work.' It's what we did in fighting the Howard government's Work Choices. Here we are yet again seeing similar circumstances. We are fighting yet again on behalf of the community and on behalf of workers. This is something that we will always fight for, because we understand how important it is for individuals to have access to decent pay and conditions, for their families, for our communities and for our economies, particularly our regional economies.

As I said, it's so important to have people earning a decent wage so that they can then spend in those regional economies. When we see any cuts or any threats to wages, whether it be penalty rates or cuts to base wages, it means that in the regions we just don't see people spending in our economies and we see the impact straightaway. The harsh policies the Liberals and Nationals put forward not only impact an individual's capacity to earn money and provide for themselves and their families but also are really detrimental to those regional economies.

As I've said many times before, in the regions we blame the National Party for these cuts. National Party choices really do hurt. At the core of this, it's hurting those regional communities by cutting pay and cutting the economic activity in our regional economies. People in regional and rural Australia know that it's the National Party that is not on their side; it is Labor that is on their side in the regions and in rural Australia. A long time ago, the National Party walked away from rural Australia, and I think that this bill really highlights that. Fancy them coming here and defending cutting the pay of workers in our country and regional areas—people who depend on that pay and who need to have decent working conditions. It's shameful that the National Party continues to line up here and talk about cutting the pay of those really important workers.

Whether it's in rural or regional Australia, in our cities or, indeed, right across the country, Labor is on people's side. We're standing up for their rights at work, for decent pay and conditions, for having a fairer system and for ensuring that more people can get into permanent work. It is always Labor who is on the side of the workers and we know that it's the Liberals and Nationals who are not on the side of hardworking Australians. We in Labor will champion in particular all of our workers. As I said, to those in regional Australia: Labor is on your side and we will always fight for better pay and better conditions for you and your family.

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