Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I read an article today entitled 'Tech stars want gig economy reform but no minimum wage', in which a number of tech stars—and I call them 'tsars' in this case—were particularly animated in their views regarding the minimum wage. Quoted in that article, Matt Barrie, the founder and chief executive of the ASX listed company Freelancer.com, said he was 'against Labor's idea due to relatively high minimum wages and the existence of casual wages in the industry'. He went on to talk about his view about the minimum wage being inappropriate. And Danny Gorog, the founder and chief executive of Snap Send Solve, said:

I think if you start regulating industries too quickly by imposing minimum wages, you can stymie the growth …

I think when you have the government coming in over the top going 'here's how it's got to be', I think that can drive the wrong outcomes for these pretty early-stage companies.

I'll just say this. Not so long ago in human existence we had slavery. In some countries we still have it. Modern slavery, and slavery over the centuries, has used the same arguments these tech companies are putting up about why gig workers should not have rights. But ending slavery would mean somebody gets the minimum wage and—heaven forbid!—can support their families. It would mean the five riders that have been killed over a two-month period working in food delivery around this country might still be alive. If that's a tech company's idea of how you get growth, that's a tech company that should not be in this economy—or any economy.

We have a situation where we've got mothers, sons, daughters and brothers leaving behind grieving families. We have seen destitute individuals being paid half the minimum wage in the food delivery industry. Recently the ABC did a very thorough report regarding the horrible death of a food delivery worker, a gig worker, Dede Fredy. I have spoken about him before. I think these chilling words remind us about where this fight is at. Four-year-old Azka Fredy, his son, is getting used to a new phrase in his vocabulary: 'My father has passed away.' These are five enormous words for a small boy to carry. In September 2020 his dad, 36-year-old Dede Fredy, was hit by a car in Marrickville in Sydney while working as a food delivery rider for Uber Eats.

There are challenges for Hungry Panda, for Menu Log and for all the companies that are doing gig work. We have a situation in this country where we've got people being treated like cattle at the behest of these tech giants that are trying to grow. Well, that son is now going to grow up without his father because of the exploitation that has occurred in this country, where people receive such a low wage—half the minimum wage—that, to survive, they have to do extraordinary hours and put themselves at risk every day. A Hungry Panda worker was dismissed for going on strike—and he should have gone on strike. I don't care what political party you are from: if someone treats you the way they've been treated then you should go on strike as well. It's not about politics, it's about humanity. It's about saying to the rich and powerful that we will not stand for what you're doing to us. In the case of the workers terminated by Hungry Panda, two days after the strike, who were accused of being leaders, the reason they went on strike was that they were earning $150 to $200 for a 10- to 12-hour day. The company reduced their income to $3 a delivery, from a high of $9 early in the period they had been working there. The company had no insurance. When this company gave evidence at an inquiry to the New South Wales parliament today, because one of their riders was killed on the road, they turned around and said that they didn't inform WorkCover because, 'We didn't know we had to.' When they were asked why weren't they paying insurance for that worker, they said, 'Because the system doesn't require us to.' That's not a system that should apply in this country.