Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and fellow senator for Queensland, Senator Watt. What is the government doing to create a level playing field in workplace relations to give workers a fair go?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Green, who, like so many people on this side of the chamber, spent much of her working life before coming here working for the interests of working people—something that I know is a foreign concept for those opposite. As we know, a key component in addressing the real cost-of-living pressure that many Australians are facing is increasing wages, and, finally, we are moving on from a decade of a government that deliberately held down wages.

Last month, the ABS labour force data showed that the number of Australians in work—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash!

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

has never been higher than it is under the Albanese Labor government. I'm not surprised that Senator Cash is interjecting, because she was one of the ministers for industrial relations that tried to keep wages down. I would be embarrassed about that as well. More than half a million jobs have been created since this government came to office—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, I've called you a number of times.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the most for any new government on record. After a decade of low wages being a deliberate design feature from people like Senator Cash, the Albanese government is ensuring that every single one of those workers is being paid accordingly. Thanks to long-overdue reforms, wages are finally moving again under the Albanese government. Employers are back at the bargaining table, thanks to last year's secure jobs, better pay reforms. However, loopholes still remain within the Fair Work Act that undermine worker pay and conditions—again, loopholes that existed under legislation we inherited from Senator Cash and the opposition.

The first loophole is that, if a worker steals from an employer, it is a crime, as it should be; however, if an employer quite deliberately steals from their worker, in most places in Australia it is not a crime. The Albanese government is closing this loophole by criminalising wage theft. The second loophole was the idea of the forced permanent casual worker. We're standing up for casual workers by giving those who are working like they are permanent a chance to convert to permanent employment. We'll see how much the opposition cares about workers and cost of living when it comes to a vote.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, the time for answering has expired. Senator Green, a first supplementary?

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, thank you for that update. What impact do these existing loopholes in the workplace relations system have on workers' wages and their job security?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you Senator Green. Unfortunately, these loopholes that we have inherited from 10 years of coalition government disproportionately affect vulnerable workers like women, young people and migrants. We need a strong new deterrent to ensure workers get the pay they are entitled to. That's why we're acting on wage theft—something the former coalition government didn't do in the 10 years that they were in office.

Some casuals work just like permanent employees, but they don't get any of the benefits of job security under the laws we inherited from the coalition government. Closing this loophole will give more than 850,000 casual workers who are working in an ongoing way the option to request permanency if they want it. No-one will be forced to convert from casual to permanent if they don't want to. Labour hire loopholes undermine the integrity of the enterprise bargaining system. Closing this loophole—something the coalition didn't do in the 10 years they were in office—will affect only a small number of workers. But, for the workers this affects, closing this loophole will be life changing. There will be more that we do because we're serious about getting wages moving again.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, the time for answering has expired. Senator Green, a second supplementary?

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, there is a lot to say over there on that side of the chamber. So, Minister, could you let us know what the opposition's legacy was in closing these loopholes that have continued to undermine workers' pay and conditions?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Green. Of course, under the former coalition government, there was always a new excuse for why they couldn't deliver a wage increase for workers—'Just wait for low unemployment; if unemployment comes down then wages will go up.' That's what they said. But, of course, unemployment came down and wages were still held down by the coalition government. Then they moved on—'Just wait for productivity increases,' they said. But, of course, they never came under the former coalition government either.

The Leader of the Opposition can stand on shop floors and worksites in outer suburban areas and make all the claims that he wants about being for the battler, but workers know that the Liberals and Nationals are not on their side and never have been on their side. They have only ever been on the side of holding back workers' wages. The coalition said no to Secure Jobs, Better Pay, before they even read the bill. Why did they say no to that? They didn't like the name of the bill, Secure Jobs, Better Pay—'Oh, we better vote no against that straightaway.' But what has occurred since that bill has been passed? Stronger jobs growth and higher wages. We're acting; you're opposing. (Time expired)

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.