Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand here today very proud to speak on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. We just heard the member for Aston say that this is not a good bill. Well, I believe it is a good bill, and all of us on this side believe that this is the right thing to do. It is a bill that will ensure dignity at the workplace. It's a bill that will ensure that wages keep up with inflation. And it's a bill that will give fairness at work. We've seen 10 years of the lowest wages in this country in terms of keeping up with inflation, under their watch. We saw 10 years of absolutely zero in this area. Those opposite were quite happy to keep wages very, very low while inflation soared through the roof.

This bill addresses many of the problems that were caused because of their watch for the last nine years and many of the problems in Australia's industrial relations systems that were raised at the Jobs and Skills Summit and through proper consultation. We were determined to get wages moving after 10 years of inaction by the former government. And we were determined to address the gender pay gap after 10 years during which this government did nothing at all and we saw that rise. We want to ensure that people who are doing such valuable work in the care economy, for example, are finally valued and paid adequately. And we want businesses and employers to work more closely together to achieve better and fairer terms and good conditions for all Australians. These are the things that we on this side of the House stand for.

As I said, I am proud of this. Yet all we hear from the opposition, as we just heard from the member for Aston, is scaremongering—words like 'Armageddon', 'militant unions', 'endless strikes' and 'the end of the world as we know it'. Anyone would think they're still living in the 1960s, fighting the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. We've moved on from that era. It's almost as though we're having the same scaremongering as they use over and over again during the climate debate. And we all remember, over the last nine years, the scaremongering that took place there. Australians saw through it then and Australians will see through it again. How can it be a bad thing that women and low-paid workers are paid equally?

How can it be a bad thing that our aged-care workers, early childhood educators, disability carers and cleaners are finally paid a decent wage? It's actually disrespectful to all those hardworking workers out there. It's disrespectful to all Australians, and it's even worse after we have been discussing the Respect@Work report in this place for days.

We on this side of the House are absolutely determined to promote job security, help close that gender pay gap, modernise the workplace bargaining system and get wages moving again. Under the previous government, wages were deliberately kept low and insecure work was encouraged. Labor is taking the opposite approach. We want to help workers get ahead.

Australia's current workplace relations framework is not working. Anyone can tell you that. It's not delivering a fair go to workers or productivity gains to employers. We've seen the lowest productivity this country has seen in the last 10 years. We need a strong economy that delivers for all Australians. We want to see more workers in good jobs, secure jobs, with fair pay and proper protections. We want workers to have a pathway to a better life and businesses to thrive. We know that if workers have more money in their pockets they will spend it on the essentials, which keep businesses going. It's not rocket science. The more money that workers have, the more that's spent in the community.

This bill will also ban pay secrecy clauses, expand access to flexible work arrangements and expressly prohibit harassment in the Fair Work Act. The bill will also bolster a worker's ability to recover unpaid entitlements, under the Fair Work small claims system, and ban job ads that advertise for below the relevant minimum pay rate. It will also modernise the bargaining system, which, according to all involved, is too complex and not working.

Now we hear that the legislation is rushed. That's what we're hearing from the other side. To be honest, tell that to the people who are currently struggling to choose between paying their bills, paying their rent and putting food on the table. Too many Australians are struggling with the rising cost of living and stagnant wages. Wages have been stagnant for 10 years in this nation, and we need to do something about it. That's what this bill does. After 10 years of an economic policy that kept wages deliberately low, it's about time we started acting. And that's what we're doing.

We've consulted extensively in the months since we were elected. We've consulted with the committee on industrial relations and with state and territory officials. It was discussed at the Jobs and Skills Summit. It's clear and transparent. Most importantly, we took it to an election. This was discussed before the election. The then opposition leader, now Prime Minister, and the shadow minister for industrial relations, now industrial relations minister, spoke about it extensively. We outlined to the Australian public what we would do in government, and this is what we are doing.

This bill will ensure the Fair Work Commission is properly resourced to assist businesses that want to engage with the enterprise bargaining system but have not been able to do so to date. There will be resources for them. We'll continue to consult, we'll continue to work with workers and businesses, because the times have moved. We're no longer in the era that those on the other side are still stuck in—the 1960s, fighting the Cold War—because we're committed to these reforms. We're committed to secure work and a decent wage that keeps up with the cost of living.

Australian workers have waited for a decade for strong wage growth, and it hasn't come. They've been waiting for 10 years. It was inaction from the government over the last 10 years. Australian workers expect action, and that's what we are doing. They deserve a break, especially given the current economic situation and rampant global inflation. Australians can't wait any longer for a decent increase to their wages. We don't want to waste any time before making improvements to the workplace relations systems—so it can work better for everyone, so it can deliver decent wages, secure work and respect at work.

Australian workers have been waiting for 10 years for pay rises, while, at the same time, the cost of living has been going up. The cost of living has been going up and their wages have remained stagnant because of the inaction. It suited the government. It's their mantra. It's within their DNA to keep wages low. It's within their DNA to attack workers. We've seen it in here. I've been here long enough to have seen many, many speeches, and every time anything comes up about industrial relations, it's about putting a lid on it, it's about keeping them quiet, it's about not allowing the industrial movement to move forward and have good engagement with businesses and with workers so it is able to come up with a solution that ensures that people have a decent wage and decent work conditions.

As I said, we don't want to waste any more time before making these improvements to the workplace relations system. Australian workers have been waiting for a long time for this bill. This bill will ensure that things are put in place that will increase wages and will give them the respect that they deserve at work and the bargaining powers that they require. Surely, if now is not the time, when? The time is now. I commend the bill to the House.

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