Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. What do today's job figures reveal about the government's approach to employment? Why is it important to ensure businesses don't avoid their obligations to their employees?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Spence and I'm pleased to let him know that, for his state of South Australia, the unemployment figure reported today has never been lower in the state of South Australia. We've had more than half a million jobs created. But, under this government, female employment has never been higher and female full-time employment has never been higher—female full-time employment is up by nearly 200,000 jobs—and, in today's labour force figures, the number of Australians in work has never been higher. The participation rate has never been higher. Youth employment has never been higher.

The other fear campaign I remember last year was that our legislation would be a disaster for jobs, and then we were also told it would be a problem for industrial action. Let's remember, in the last quarter under those opposite, the number of days lost to industrial action. The figure was 128,000. In the quarter we've just had, it's not 128,000 days lost to industrial action; it's 10,200. So their fear campaign hasn't landed all that well.

I noticed on the front page of the Australian today that there's a new thing we're meant to be afraid of. I've got to say I never saw this one coming. There is some anger from one of the business groups that the anti-evasion provisions that are in the closing loopholes bill start from the date of the introduction of the bill. The argument from the business group is this:

The government indicated business would have more than 12 months to get ready for the changes in the bill.

Now, I just have to explain. That was 12 months to get ready to comply with the bill, not 12 months to find a new way of evading the bill. And this is something that's not uncommon at all in tax legislation. Those opposite might be unfamiliar with this, but their own tax legislation—bills in 2015, in 2019, in 2018, in 2017, in 2020—all use the same principle. And why? Because, if you're bringing in a new provision of compliance, the intention is that business complies and you start your anti-evasion provisions from the date of introduction. That's to make sure that we do have strong laws that stamp out wage theft. It's to make sure that we do close the labour loophole. It's to make sure that we do give rights to casuals. It's to make sure that gig workers who currently have no minimum standards get minimum standards for the first time. Those opposite and the campaign against this bill are all about trying to trade one loophole for the next loophole. We're determined to make sure that minimum standards are real in this country. (Time expired)