Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to stand in solidarity with the Transport Workers' Union and the Victorian and Tasmanian cash-in-transit workers currently taking industrial action to demand better pay and conditions. These workers move cash around, meaning our communities can access their own cash from ATMs and banks and get the right change from retailers. Cash in transit is one of the highest-risk jobs in the transport industry, with workers subjected to daily abuse and attempted robberies, and the take-home pay for this cohort of workers has stagnated. There has also been a loss of conditions and decline in safety standards. The cash-in-transit industry is in crisis.

Around 1.5 million people still use cash to make more than 80 per cent of their in-person payments. Without a sustainable funding model, cash in Australia faces the very real risk of extinction. But the big banks don't prioritise our cash-in-transit workers, and workers are rightly fed up. Right now, Linfox is refusing to negotiate with workers—workers who are fighting for pay parity across Armaguard, Prosegur and Point to Point. I'm a strong supporter of members of our community having access to their own money, and it's time that we valued our workers in the same way we value access to cash. This is about fairness, safety and respect—principles that should underpin every Australian workplace. Labor fights for all Australian workers and always will.