Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support the cleaners at Parliament House. This week the cleaners here at Parliament House are taking industrial action. They are not cleaning the toilets or the bathrooms. Why have they taken this step? Because they have not had a pay rise for three years. They are currently on a pay freeze. It is not like when an MP does not get a pay rise. These are the lowest paid workers in this building. Costs are going up, yet their wages are not. This has come about because this government scrapped the Clean Start Guidelines to Responsible Contracting—the clean start guidelines that ensured these cleaners would get a fair deal.

It is not just the pay rise that these cleaners are concerned about; they are also worried about their job security. If the contract goes out to tender, there is no guarantee that the cleaners will keep their jobs. They could also be hit by big pay cuts, like we have seen in the Department of Defence where the cleaners have had their pay cut by $6,000 a year. There are not too many pollies who are putting their hands up to cop a $6,000-a-year pay cut, yet they expect their cleaners, some of the lowest paid people in this community, to cop one. When this building was opened in 1988, there were 100 cleaners. Today it is down to 40. Workloads have increased, yet their pay continues to be low. It is time that this government got behind the cleaners and supported their Parliament House cleaners too.