Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

I moved to take note of a report, No. 33 on page 15 of the Notice Paper. The Greens support payday super. Workers should be paid their super at the time they are paid their wages. This is simple and fair, and it's long overdue. But today we're debating a glaring injustice that Labor has chosen to leave in place. Under the regulations, 515,000 young workers stacking shelves, serving burgers, making coffees and cleaning tables continue to be denied superannuation simply because they are under 18 and work fewer than 30 hours a week. They are currently robbed of an estimated $405 million in super contributions last year alone.

Let's be clear about what that means. A 17-year-old can work. They can work hard. They can pay tax. They can contribute in their workplace and to the economy, but, when it comes to retirement savings, Labor says their work somehow doesn't count. It's an outrageous double standard. More than 500,000 young Australians are expected to miss out on super because of this loophole. Around 93 per cent of workers under 18 work fewer than 30 hours a week. That's not a small carve out. It's not a technical anomaly. It's a rule that affects almost every young worker in the country.

Who benefits from this anomaly? It's not workers, not young people. The beneficiaries are some of the largest and most profitable corporations in Australia. The major supermarkets, the fast-food giants and retail chains are making billions in profits while employing armies of young workers. Our inquiry found that companies like Coles, Woolworths, Kmart, Target, Chemist Warehouse, Hungry Jack's and McDonald's employ tens of thousands of teenagers yet still refuse to pay super unless those workers meet outdated minimum hours thresholds. Meanwhile, these same corporations are making enormous profits—over a billion for Coles, $1.38 billion for Woolworths, nearly $600 million for Chemist Warehouse and almost $2.9 billion for Wesfarmers, which owns Kmart and Target. The global profits of McDonald's exceeded $13 billion. These companies can afford to pay super. Many simply choose not to, because the law lets them off the hook. Labor, regrettably, has decided to protect that loophole.

The SDA submission provided testimony from young workers about this pay discrimination. Sarah, for example, who is 18 years old, has been working since she was 15. She works in a discount department, and Sarah's super balance would have exceeded $3,000 by now if contributions had been paid while she was under 18. That's nearly three times what she has now. When asked how she felt about it, Sarah said: 'Not good. That's a lot of money unpaid, and I'm doing the same work as those older people alongside me. That's just not fair.'

This exclusion entrenches lower lifetime savings before workers even turn 18. The system is designed to disadvantage people at the very moment they enter the workforce. Every dollar of super paid early in life has decades to compound. It's very, very sweet, important money. Missing out on super as a teenager can mean thousands—potentially tens of thousands—of dollars less in retirement. That matters. That's painful. That's a serious loss for young workers, many of whom are on very low wages. At a time when young people are facing a housing crisis, rising rents, insecure work and declining living standards, this parliament should not be taking money out of their future pockets. Young Australians are already being asked to carry more than their fair share. They should not also be expected to subsidise the profits of multinational fast-food chains and supermarket giants.

Labor often says, 'No worker should be left behind', but the Labor Party's inaction on these young workers, and their pay packets and their super, speaks louder than words. Let's be clear. Let's be really clear. Labor is backing the wealthy one per cent—those very big corporations—over young workers right at the beginning of their working lives in this country. They're asking young workers to subsidise the profits of some of Australia's biggest and most profitable corporations by letting them continue to avoid paying super to these young workers. The Greens will continue to stand with young workers and fight to close this loophole, and this entire parliament should join us in that effort.

Question agreed to.