Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I want to pay tribute to the advocacy work of the mighty Transport Workers Union. The TWU have stood up to major multinationals like Uber Eats and Door Dash. They stared down their unscrupulous behaviour and won, which means food delivery drivers will finally have fair working conditions. They will receive a minimum hourly pay and have accident insurance for injuries sustained on the job. Australia should be immensely proud. This is a world first. We are officially the world leader in protecting contract and gig workers from abuse because our unions refused to accept exploitation dressed up as innovation, using apps to chew up and spit out Australian workers. Not on our watch! Australia will never accept billion-dollar corporations treating human beings as a disposable commodity.

These aren't small wins; they are life-changing outcomes. For years, delivery drivers earned as little as $22 an hour before paying for fuel. They had to wait outside restaurants unpaid, and if they were hit by a car on a rainy night, they were left to lie there on the road without any protection or compensation from their employer. Drivers bore all the risks while big tech companies reaped all the profits. That is disgraceful, and it had to end.

Thanks to the TWU, those workers will finally have a wage floor, real protections and the dignity they deserve. In a cost-of-living crisis, it is unions, not multinational CEOs, who ensure vulnerable workers can survive, support their families and live with security rather than insecurity. This outcome is a statement of who we are as a country. When workers are being exploited or abused in Australia, we will always fight for fairness here in the Australian Labor Party.