Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm not only for the question but her advocacy for working people in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

Of course in our first term, the Albanese government delivered landmark workplace relations reforms, with one goal: to get wages moving. Now we are continuing that work by delivering on our very clear and very simple election commitment to protect penalty and overtime rates in modern awards for 2.6 million low-paid workers. Our government believes that workers deserve laws that ensure their pay does not go backwards.

I've been asked why this legislation is urgent. There are cases underway right now to trade away penalty and overtime rates for some our lowest paid workers, in particular in the retail industry. The retail award sets the pay of 350,000 workers directly and another 690,000 workers indirectly. For some of these workers, if this case was to succeed, it is estimated they could stand to lose up to $10,000 through a reduction of their penalty rates and overtime rates. For some of our lowest-paid workers, this would be a huge cut to their take-home pay. Our government is taking urgent and decisive action to ensure the pay of hardworking Australians is protected. We've been very, very clear about our commitment. We've engaged in genuine consultation, right across the board, with employers, unions and—for the benefit of the shadow minister—small business as well, about our very simple proposition, which is to protect penalty rates and overtime rates.

I'm asked about any potential risk to these protections, and, unfortunately, the risk is those opposite. The shadow minister was so desperate to stand in the way of protecting penalty rates that earlier today he tried to delay our penalty rates bill by referring it to a committee that doesn't even exist. I have seen a lot of creative ways—

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