Senate debates
Thursday, 20 August 2026
Questions without Notice
Wages and Salaries
3:38 pm
Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) | Hansard source
Labor listen to young people and we act on what they tell us. I recently met Brayden, Prachi, Genita and Misha, four young workers from the SDA who stood up for fair pay. They campaigned for 18- to 20-year-olds working in retail, fast food and pharmacy to be paid the same as their older co-workers. It's not too much to ask. It worked, and it's only fair. We on this side of the chamber will always back a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, and that includes for young Australians. Their contribution deserves to be valued. They never got that under the coalition government. The coalition called low wages a deliberate design feature. We call this a deliberate choice to make wages higher. When young workers stood up, we stood with them, and, together, we are delivering fairer pay.
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