Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in this place to discuss the Fair Work Australia decision to cut penalty rates. Nearly 700,000 Australians will have their penalty rates cut, losing up to $77 a week. In Townsville, around 13,000 workers could be affected by this Fair Work decision; that is one in six workers. In a city where we have over 11 per cent unemployment and over 17 per cent youth unemployment, we cannot have cuts to the pay of one in six workers. It will destroy our local economy.

In Townsville, some of the biggest spenders are our university students. A lot of university students obtain work in the retail, hospitality and accommodation sectors, where they rely heavily on penalty rates. These students are not saving their money; they are spending it immediately in our economy. University students are not saving money to buy a house, instead they are buying smashed avo on toast from your local cafe.

It is ridiculous that casual retail workers will see their Sunday rates fall from 200 per cent to 175 per cent. Full- and part-time hospitality workers will also see a cut from 175 per cent to 150 per cent, and fast food full- and part-time workers will see rates drop from 175 per cent to 150 per cent.

For Townsville, if our university students get paid less, this means less money in their pockets to spend and in turn less money for our local businesses and local economy. I put it to the Prime Minister: take immediate action on penalty rates; don't pass the buck and just let the Townsville university students have enough money to buy their smashed avo on toast.