House debates

Wednesday, 23 November 2022

Statements by Members

Amazon

1:56 pm

Photo of Joanne RyanJoanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

The phrase 'black Friday' elicits for me memories of devastation and loss of life during those terrible fires. But Black Friday has come to mean something else, and Amazon promote this something else. They promote an opportunity to make enormous profits with a big online sale.

I'm really proud that the SDA and the TWU, two great unions in this country, have joined forces to educate the community about Amazon's track record on the ground in terms of fair pay and fair conditions, and it's not a pretty story. So I want to encourage everyone this Black Friday to shop local, support the SDA, support the TWU, support the workers in this country and stop the Americanisation of our workplaces here—because in this country we believe in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and we believe everybody should be safe at work. That means driving safely if you're driving a truck, and that means having decent breaks if you're packing boxes for a conglomerate in this country. So thanks to the SDA and thanks to the TWU for joining forces on this incredibly important issue and putting a stop to the Americanisation of workplaces in this country.