Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise as a reminder to those on the opposite side of the House that workers who work on weekends and after hours are doing it tough and have been doing it tough since 1 July, when this government brutally sat back and did nothing when penalty rates were cut for up to 700,000 workers in the retail, hospitality, fast-food and pharmacy sectors. They are pay cuts that will continue every 1 July until 2020.

We can see an ideologically driven pattern of behaviour here. On Friday, we saw the closure of Holden and the death of the car industry, with up to 50,000 manufacturing jobs being killed, including those that are or were involved with Holden and every other small business that supported them. There is the renewable energy sector, where the next generation of green jobs have been cut in their prime by the coal lobby within the government. We have witnessed defence projects for South Australia being put on hold right at the wrong time, when they were needed the most, as the government ummed and ahhed about putting its trust in the Australian workforce. We have witnessed WorkChoices by stealth as the government decided to cut the wages of hardworking Australians—another ideological decision. Because of this government, millionaires will have more money in their pockets and low-income workers less. That is the direct result of this. This parliament and the government had the power to stop penalty rates being cut, but the government refused to act.

As the member for Hindmarsh, I'll continue to fight for my constituents who are doing it tough—for example, students trying to pay off HECS debts that have increased due to government policy that is making degrees cost more through massive cuts to universities. This is a double whammy for students at university who are working casual jobs to make ends meet and for their parents who are trying to make ends meet and to help make up the shortfall. Mums and dads are spending valuable time away from the family on Sundays and after hours to make ends meet—now without compensation for doing so.

We on this side of the House will continue to fight to protect rates for Australian workers every day until the next election. We won't let the government get away with its assault on the wages of low-paid Australians. As the opposition, Labor has fought on behalf of workers to stop these cuts from occurring, and we have committed that, in government, we will reverse these pay cuts and make sure they can't happen again. Rest assured, Labor's legislation will reverse the recent decision to cut penalty rates and will also change the laws to protect the overall take-home pay of working Australians as a result of future decisions.

Labor was formed by workers. It cares about workers, not like the PM, who has given massive tax cuts to multimillionaires and multinationals. There is a fix to the problem, but it's up to the public to help sort this one out. We need a change of government, as penalty rates are being cut between 1 July this year and 1 July 2020. Only a Shorten Labor government can stop the rot. We will restore the faith of Australian workers by supporting products made in Australia—we heard the Prime Minister's announcement in South Australia last weekend. We'll restore the faith of the Australian worker by supporting products made in Australia. We in my electorate remember the Rossi boot saga in 2014. I remember it and the constituents of Hindmarsh remember it as well. Rossi boots are proudly made in Adelaide, but Rossi missed out on a Defence contract to supply Australian soldiers with boots. Where did the contract go? It went to Indonesia: the contract for 100,000 pairs of non-combat boots worth $15 million over five years went straight to Asia when it could have been in the western suburbs of Adelaide, producing jobs and helping the economy. Rossi is a business that has been in operation since 1910 and employs around 100 people. It made boots for our soldiers in World War I. It made boots for our soldiers in World War II. It has helped to protect our country during time of war.

So why does the government keep walking away from manufacturing jobs and businesses? Does it want a future where we don't make anything anymore?

The former defence minister, David Johnston, said at the time that the bid from Rossi was over that of the successful bidder. He failed to take into account the taxes raised, the jobs of Australians and the economy. And where is Minister Johnston now? Mr Speaker, can you remember the defence minister saying that he wouldn't trust South Australian submarine makers to build a canoe? What a dreadful statement to make about workers who have some of the finest technology and some of the finest— (Time expired)