Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator White, for that very thorough and detailed question. I know that you, along with pretty much everyone on this side of the chamber, have a very long history of standing up for the rights of workers, including casual workers.

Currently, the definition of a 'casual' within the Fair Work Act is based only on the original offer of employment and does not take into account any subsequent conduct of the parties. Unfortunately, this means that some employers are exploiting this loophole, treating employees as casuals even if they work regular and predictable hours. I've certainly met many such workers. Whether it be in the coalmining industry in Queensland or in many other industries across the country, there are thousands and thousands of casual workers who have been stuck in casual employment arrangements for too long. It would appear that some opposition senators seem quite content for that system to remain in place. Those casual workers are being used as though they were permanent workers, without the security of permanent employment, just because of what is written in their employment contracts.

This is the legacy of the former coalition government—the party of low wages and the party of insecure work. In 2021 the coalition introduced legislation to legitimise a blatantly unfair definition of casual employment. Then, extraordinarily, they voted down the other provisions of their own bill. The minister at the time—I wonder who that might have been? Oh, that's right; it was Senator Cash—and the coalition government voted against criminalising wage theft and the better off overall test because they were so focused on taking rights away from casuals. That's Senator Cash's record as the IR minister. That's the record of the coalition government at the time. What was left was an unfair and unreasonable definition that has now been in effect for two years. If the contract said you were working as a casual, that was the end of the story. The Albanese government's workplace relations reform agenda will introduce a new, fair definition of casual employment that will benefit all. (Time expired)