Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

The independent Fair Work Commission has ruled that young adult workers should earn adult wages, and that happened under a Labor government. This government welcomes the decision to abolish junior rates of pay for 18- to 20-year-old workers in some sectors, meaning tens of thousands of young adult workers will earn more at this important time of their lives.

While we're getting on with the job of supporting younger Australians, what do we see from the endangered species of the opposition? Their week started with that catastrophic result in the Farrer by-election, recording historically low votes for the Liberal Party and the National Party in coalition heartland. Then they spent the rest of the week flip-flopping about whether they would enter a coalition with One Nation. Senator McKenzie was first out of the blocks, saying she was for it. The shadow foreign minister was against it. The shadow treasurer was for it and then he was against it. Then we saw Senator Hume on that train-wreck interview this week where this moderate Liberal eight times would not rule out going into coalition with One Nation. The truth is they're already in coalition, cutting wages, cutting housing and cutting cost-of-living relief.