Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

Coalminers who risk their lives every day—and the member for Paterson has been a staunch defender of this initiative—who get up and risk their lives to power our state, should not face wage apartheid because one happened to be directly employed and another was employed through a labour hire provider. That's why I'm so proud of same job, same pay, and that's why I was so horrified that this initiative was opposed by the Liberal and National parties, who voted against it. In fact, the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, even went so far as to call these laws dangerous. Well, it's dangerous to allow wage apartheid. It's dangerous to say coalminers don't deserve the same pay for doing the same job.

At the same time, we saw then coalition frontbencher the member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, before he defected to One Nation saying same job, same pay was 'ridiculous'. Let's not forget that his new-found friends in One Nation also voted against it or didn't even bother showing up to vote at all in their work-to-rule campaign. One Nation called the new laws a sham, demonstrating yet again that they're happy to don the hi-vis, coat their face with a bit of coal dust and claim to be the friends of coalminers but, when coalminers need them to stand up for their rights at work to say that people should get paid the same for doing the same job, they disappear or, even worse, vote against it. Let's be very clear about this. Pauline Hanson and One Nation are no friends of coalminers. They're happy to schmooze with mining bosses. They're happy to take the largesse from large mining corporations but they vote against coalminers' interests every day of the week, and people in my community are jack of it.

Let's also not forget the plight of hundreds of workers at the Myuna Colliery at Wangi Wangi, Lake Macquarie. Workers were at risk of losing their jobs there because of a commercial impasse between Origin Energy and Centennial Coal about supply of coal. That's why I was so pleased that our community campaign sprung up, led by the mining unions—the MEU, the AMWU, the ETU, the Coal Officers Organisation and Professionals Australia—to say that we need certainty for the 300 workers and their families at the Myuna Colliery. I was proud to join with the other Hunter Labor MPs in calling for Origin Energy and Centennial to do the right thing—sacrifice a tiny bit of profit to give certainty to those workers at Myuna Colliery.

Our view has long been that, as long as Eraring power station is open, it should be supplied by coal from Myuna Colliery, which is a captured coalmine that has supplied coal since the start of the power station. It has no opportunity to supply coal to the export market because it is a captured coalmine. I was delighted that the public campaign led by the workers and their representatives was successful and that Origin and Centennial have come to the party. There is a good prospect that Myuna Colliery will remain open for the life of the Eraring power station, and I pay tribute to everyone involved in that campaign.

I stand here proudly today in support of this bill with the knowledge that the Albanese Labor government is improving the wages and entitlements of hardworking Australians. Once again, we're delivering on what we promised. I stand here proudly with coal miners and their families and say, 'We've got your back. We acknowledge and are deeply grateful for the sacrifice you make to keep power on in our state and our nation, and to provide export dollars. We will always stand up for your wages and conditions and say, 'We're proud of the job you do, we're proud of the sacrifice you make, we honour the sacrifice you make and we will always stand up to protect you and make sure that you have safe working conditions and fair entitlements.' On that note, I commend the bill to the House.

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