Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. This bill is about secure jobs and better wages. It's a bill to reform Australia's workplace relations framework in relation to gender equality, to gender equity, to workplace health and safety, to jobs and wages, to security for those jobs and those wages, to bargaining and to industrial action. This bill is about the future of jobs in Australia, the future of fair pay and conditions for Australian workers and the future of take-home pay in every household across the nation.

In my home state of Tasmania people are doing it tough right now. Wages are historically low in Tasmania, compared to the mainland. The costs of living continues to place great pressure on family budgets. House prices remain high, and mortgage repayments and rents are increasing.

We have two options for how we deal with this situation. We can sit on our hands and make no changes—those opposite would have us go down that path—or we can act decisively to bring greater fairness to workplaces and people's livelihoods across the country. The Labor movement has always fought for better pay and conditions for the Australian people, and that is what this bill entails.

I thank unions in my home state of Tasmania—the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, the Australian Workers Union, the Transport Workers Union and Unions Tasmania—who visited me in my office last week. They care about their fellow Tasmanians. They fight every day for better pay and conditions for Tasmanian workers.

Just as it is in my DNA to fight for better wages and conditions and equality and equity for Tasmanian workers, it is in the DNA of those opposite to keep wages low. That was their government's policy over the last 10 years. That's what they said. They said it and they acted upon it. That's why, after 10 very long years, they allowed the economic drift, and they kept wages low by design.

The Albanese Labor government is taking significant action with this bill, which will improve the lives of working Australians. The Albanese government is putting jobs and skills at the top of the government's agenda, which is what we promised during the election campaign and is what we are going to deliver, because we know the importance of a job to an individual's life. A secure, well-paid job not only provides Australians with dignity and purpose but serves our community and our economy.

For too long workers have had to deal with a situation where their wages had stagnated. It is a too-common situation where a business can employ a fellow Australian as a permanent casual for more than 14 years, when the employee actually want more hours or a part-time contract, but the business is unwilling to make them permanent and give them job security. How can it be that someone can work for the one company for 14 years as a casual, working every single weekend, without ever being offered a permanent job? These practices are shameful and they must stop. Australians are crying out for leadership on wages in this country, and therefore the Albanese government does not want to waste any time before making improvements to the workplace relations system so that it can work better for everyone.

Ten years passed under the former Liberal government, and it was their deliberate intention, as I said, to keep wages low. They have admitted that that was a feature of their industrial relations architecture: to keep wages low in Australia, to keep the take-home pay of Australians to a minimum. But now they dare to debate this bill in here and will, ultimately, vote against this legislation. That is in direct contrast to what the Albanese government wants to do. It is in deliberate contrast to what the Australian people voted for. They voted for a new government and voted for change. We want to get wages moving and, within days of being elected, the Prime Minister wrote to the Fair Work Commission, urging a pay increase for those on the minimum wage. And it was granted.

There can be no fair criticism that there has not been consultation on this bill. The government was consulting before the election and during the election; consultation on this bill has been extensive and underway since then. As a result of that ongoing consultation, further government amendments have been made to this bill. These amendments will support the government's objectives. This bill will be good for individuals, good for the community, good for the economy and good for national productivity.

There has been much debate and commentary about this bill in the media, but if anyone wants to see the stark difference between the two major parties in Australia right now then this is the bill which demonstrates that clearly. We are a government that is fighting for the rights of working Australians; a government that is unbridled in its passion and perseverance to bring down the cost of living and to get wages moving. However, those opposite want to leave this bill until next year. In fact, they would rather that we not debate it at all. They want to go away from this place and come back after Christmas while wages remain stagnant and the economy continues to place greater pressure on Australians who are struggling with the cost of living.

While those opposite are sitting back at Christmas barbecues, drinking their Penfolds out of their crystal, Australians will still be seeking a pay rise. I note that Senator Lambie pretends she is standing up for working people but is not supporting this bill. It isn't a secret anymore, Senator Lambie and the Jacqui Lambie Network: you are not standing up for wage increases for Australian workers and you're not supporting Tasmanian workers. The coalition of the Liberal Party of Australia, the National Party and the Jacqui Lambie Network wants to allow wages and take-home pay to be cut. That's what they stand for, there are no ifs or buts about this. They have put this sentiment in writing.

The Australian people have been waiting now for too long for a government to stand up for their interests—to stand up for better pay and conditions, to stand up and say that wages are too low in this country. Our wages are not in line with the rising grocery and fuel prices, or increasing rents, mortgages and inflation. We, on this side of the chamber, have waited 10 long years for this bill to reach this place. Now is the time to pass it and to vote it into law. This bill will make the pay equity and job security objectives so that our system works. It's a bill that will allow a pathway for enterprise agreements and for multi-employer agreements in order to get wages moving.

I'd like to place on the record my thanks to Senator David Pocock for his contribution in negotiating and in finally coming to support this bill. As he said, so many of the frontline workers that we relied upon during the COVID pandemic are the people who will benefit most from this legislation. As I said, people have been waiting for far too long for this pay rise. They should not have to wait a day longer, and I urge those people in this place who are on the opposite side and on the crossbenches to actually support this bill, because it is in the interests of all Australians and particularly of working Australians. I'm proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, who will deliver this for Australian workers.