Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a boarding announcement for Jetstar and Qantas Group. Before take off, passengers are told to follow the safety instructions, but, when it comes to workers, Jetstar seems to have found a different set of safety card instructions. Fasten your seatbelt, because Australian based cabin crew are being locked out of higher value international flying. Brace for impact, because workers are losing pay progression and career opportunities. And locate your nearest exit, because some overseas based crew are reportedly being paid as little as $10 an hour, with allowances so low they struggle during layovers in Australia. This is not the spirit of fair work. That should not be the flight path for our aviation industry. This is not the journey to better standards; it is a one-way ticket to the bottom.

Same Job, Same Pay has delivered important gains for workers across the country. It has helped ensure that companies cannot simply use labour hire arrangements to undercut wages and conditions. But companies should not be allowed to taxi around the rules, exploit a legal loophole, take off with cheaper labour and leave Australian workers standing at the gate.

The Transport Workers Union has been relentless in sounding the alarm on this issue, standing up for aviation workers and making sure these concerns are heard in this place. I thank them for their tireless work, because when overseas based crews are used to undercut Australian rates and conditions the whole industry feels the turbulence. It divides workers, it weakens standards and it sends a dangerous signal across aviation that if a company does not like Australian labour standards, it can simply re-route the work offshore. That should not be the boarding pass to doing business in this country.

Companies that benefit from being based in Australia should not be able to cruise at altitude on Australian profits while avoiding Australian obligations. It is about whether cabin crew doing the same job, wearing the same uniform, serving the same passengers and keeping the same flights running should be treated as a cheaper class of worker because of where they are based. And it is about whether we are serious about safe, secure and fair skies. This is exactly why we need stronger whole-of-industry accountability, including through a safe and secure skies commission. Because aviation safety is not just about the aircraft, the runway or the passengers; it is also about the people who keep the industry flying, and secure skies should mean secure jobs too.