Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The same constituent that raised with me the health issues I have discussed today—and other issues of health which I have not raised within the parliament—also raised an issue that is of great concern to many workers and families within Shortland electorate. This lady, even though she is 69 years of age, sees how unfair the Howard government’s changes to contract laws are. She wrote to me and said that employers are increasingly requiring employees to sign up as contractors. This is something I have experienced within my office. It is a way of circumventing the laws that are in place. The employees set up a company at a cost of about $2,000 to themselves. The contractors must provide their own insurance, workers compensation, liability et cetera. The employee surrenders the right to other award conditions like annual leave and holiday pay. That is becoming the norm under the Howard government, as we all know. In exchange, the contractor is paid a higher rate of pay by the employer. Until recently, they were able to lodge annual tax returns at company rates—30c in the dollar. However, the Howard government has changed the law. Same old story, isn’t it? They are out there disadvantaging people who have the least power within the community.

Any contractor who receives 80 per cent of his work from one source now has their income classified as personal. That means that the contractor is liable to pay an increased tax rate of up to 47c in the dollar, rather than the company rate of 30c. This is a piece of legislation I spoke on when it was in the parliament, and I expressed my concerns at that time. But it is important to see that these concerns are reflected within the community by pensioners who are out there just watching and seeing how this legislation is affecting people. This constituent also pointed out that this legislation means that the employee is unable to claim the usual company deductions, such as office, electricity, et cetera. The changes to the law mean that the employer retains all the advantages of employing someone and then treating them as a contractor, while the contractor loses the company advantage because the Howard government treats them as an employee. The changes to the contractors’ tax laws really disadvantage employees and workers. The Howard government stands condemned for this legislation, just as it stands condemned for all its efforts in the area of workers’—(Time expired)