Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to inform the House of a meeting that I attended with many of my Labor colleagues this morning with representatives of the 200 local Gippsland workers of the AWU, the AMWU and the ETU, who have now been fighting ExxonMobil for 167 days. They are ExxonMobil's workers, and they are absolutely in the fight of their lives. They are in a David and Goliath fight with Exxon—a huge multinational—that, as it has been noted, hasn't paid tax in this country in the last two years. They haven't paid tax, but they think workers can take a 46 per cent pay cut. This is an absolutely outrageous act. They are using sham contracts.

In the seat of Lalor I represent many people who are employed casually, many who are underemployed and many who are looking at a bleak future of waiting for a text message to tell them they've got work tomorrow. These 200 workers are at the forefront of this fight for the whole of the Australian workforce. If they don't win this fight then this is go to roll out to lots of companies around this country. They are fighting for their families. They are fighting for their future. They're fighting for what is fair. I call on every member of this parliament to get behind these workers, to support them and to send a message across this chamber to those opposite: they need to act to get rid of the loopholes that allow for these sham contracts that are ripping off workers in this country. (Time expired)