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

This week in parliament we've had a visit from Esso workers—Exxon Mobil workers—based at the Longford facility in Gippsland, Victoria. Who is Exxon Mobil—Esso? They are one of those large multinationals—in fact, the sixth-largest in the world—that's not paying any tax in this country, yet last year they made $8.6 billion in offshoring Australian gas and oil. So they are a company doing incredibly well off the back of Australian resources.

Up until recently, workers within their organisation—within their facilities—shared some of that wealth. However, recently, Exxon Mobil have got greedy. They are now attacking their workers through loopholes in the Fair Work Act. We have heard that they have offered the new contract to a labour hire company that wants to cut the pay of these workers—who work offshore in dangerous conditions—by 30 to 40 per cent. It is wrong. They want to change the rosters—again, reducing take-home pay—which creates problems within family units by not giving people time with their families or certainty going forward. They've said to these workers, 'It's a take-it-or-leave-it scenario.' The workers, many of whom have worked for Esso for a long time, have refused. Now the company is refusing to bargain with them in good faith.

It's summed up by Troy Carter's son. Troy came here and talked about the dispute and what it would mean for their family, if they accepted this take-it-or-leave-it contract—and it would mean loss of pay. His son said, 'Dad, why is your boss taking money from us?' After thinking about it for while, Troy replied, 'The truth is my boss is greedy.' It's not a very nice answer, but it's the truth. He says he was brought to tears when his son then came back to the kitchen, poured his money bank onto the table and said, 'Don't worry, Dad. Here's all the money we need.' As the family said, 'If our children can understand this, how come the company can't?'

This dispute is all about corporate greed. There are problems and loopholes in the Fair Work Act, yet the government is refusing to do anything about it. The only intervention that we've seen from Fair Work is to order the workers to take down Scabby the Rat—take down a protest rat—rather than actually force the company into genuine, good-faith bargaining about restoring pay and conditions. Esso is not short of a dollar. They are not paying any tax in Australia, and now they're ripping off their workers. It's time this government acted.