Senate debates

Thursday, 18 February 2021

Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers

JobKeeper Payment, COVID-19: Tourism

4:16 pm

Photo of Anthony ChisholmAnthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If you ever need an example of how out of touch and arrogant this government is, you only need look at the contribution from Senator Bragg just now. Think about the type of country that they are saying they want to leave behind after this pandemic. They actually highlighted robbing people of a decent retirement. Robbing people of dignity in retirement was one of the things they said they are proud of. That is what this government is responsible for.

When he came to talk about the vision, what they want Australia to look like in a couple of years, he rattled off a couple of things at the end. There is actually no bold vision. The government have been in power for seven years and they have actually run out of puff. They don't have a vision for where they want to take the country. They actually don't have a plan for Australian families to look forward to to see how their life or community is going to be better when Australia emerges from this pandemic.

We saw in response to a question from Senator Gallagher today the Leader of the Government in the Senate repeat some of that rhetoric. The government tries to claim that there is a recovery underway. Think about the two million Australians who are unemployed or looking for more work. How do you think they're feeling now? Think about the 1.5 million Australians on JobKeeper, which is going to end in 38 days. How do you think those Australians feel about the reaction we get from this government? The government are completely out of touch. They are completely lacking in vision for a better Australia. We absolutely deserve so much more. We know they are doing nothing. They haven't outlined what they are going to do when JobKeeper ends.

We saw this week the government pursuing changes to industrial relations that are going to undermine the pay and conditions of working people. How is that going to help Australia get through a pandemic? How is that going to help those two million Australians who are either unemployed or underemployed? How is that going to help the 1.5 million Australians on JobKeeper? It obviously is not going to do that.

When considering the government record we need to look at their rhetoric and how they deliver on jobs in the recovery. Over the last seven years—and this is pre the pandemic—they've overseen record low wage growth. That was until 2019. Over that time they've had no plan to lift wages. They've had no plan to help working people in this country look for a better deal. To add to that, look at the conditions that are facing Australians as we try to get through this year.

As I've said repeatedly, JobKeeper will end in 38 days. Imagine those businesses, imagine those workers attached to the business; imagine what they're feeling at the moment. Imagine the uncertainty they're dealing with. Imagine the uncertainty their families are dealing with. We know that there are more than 250,000 of these people in Queensland. We know that there are 1.5 million around the country; there are 250,000 in Queensland. We also know there are two million Australians who are looking for work or want more work. And what does this government offer? What does it offer these people who are desperate, out there looking for work or worried about what is going to happen to them? It ends JobKeeper in 38 days. It pursues legislation in the Senate and in the House of Reps that is going to undermine the pay and conditions of working Australians.

The government are responsible for the stagnant wages, the job insecurity and the underemployment. This is what their seven-year record has actually delivered. And what do they offer for the recovery? More of the same. That is what they have pursued in the chamber and that is what their vision has been for Australia.

But it doesn't have to be that way. There is actually a better way, and that is what Anthony Albanese as Labor leader has started to outline. We believe in secure, well-paid jobs and better conditions, and confidence for the Australian people that a better future is available. We know that the pandemic has done economic damage to every part of Australia. I see it in my travels through Queensland. There's no community that has been untouched by the pandemic. But what the L-NP offer these people, what the L-NP offer these communities, is more of the same; that's seven years of failure from this government. Australians deserve so much better. So the opportunity this year for Labor is to actually offer the Australian people a better future. They're not going to get it from those opposite, who are out of puff and out of ideas. It is only an Anthony Albanese Labor government that can actually deliver that positive vision for Australia.

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