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

The Leader of the Opposition should stop being sneaky when he talks about Qantas and Alan Joyce. It's really incredible how deceptive the opposition leader is. On the one hand he's lobbying on behalf of the Qatari government and accusing the government of being too close to Qantas while at the same time he's acting as Alan Joyce's mouthpiece when it comes to defending Joyce's labour hire loophole. Yesterday Mr Dutton said that our bill to close Joyce's labour hire loophole would 'deny employers the choice to use labour hire workers'. Can you believe the hypocrisy?

The Liberals and Nationals are campaigning to protect Joyce's labour hire loophole. Mr Dutton is protecting the loophole that Mr Joyce created to split Qantas's workforce across 38 separate companies. That's your real evidence of how Qantas influences policy in this country. For 10 years the Liberals and Nationals happily defended Mr Joyce while he tore Qantas's workforce apart. The Liberals and Nationals were there when Joyce illegally sacked 1,700 people. As soon as we got into government Minister Burke took Joyce on in the High Court. That's the difference between us and them. We stood up for Qantas workers against Mr Joyce. Those opposite helped Mr Joyce destroy their livelihoods and their lives.

The Liberals and Nationals will always be for low pay. In fact, when it comes to gig work, the Liberals and the Nationals are for no pay. They are for no minimum standards. They are for gig workers getting hit by trucks while they slave away for as little as $6 an hour. Over here, we're on the side of working Australians and good Australian employers, who deserve a fair shake.