Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My questioning is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Minister, our road transport industry is vital to keeping our nation's economy moving, as I know better than anyone. The conflict in the Middle East is having an impact on input costs for our hardworking truck drivers and our road industry businesses. How is the Albanese Labor government supporting truckies to get a fair go, and what other measures is the government supporting to help Australians with current cost-of-living pressures?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks to Senator Sterle, who certainly knows more than most in this chamber about the needs of truckies around Australia. The truth is that without truckies and their drivers, the movement of essential supplies across Australia stops. That's why we want truckies to get a fair go. It's why the Albanese government has passed significant reforms to ensure that our road transport industry is strong and resilient for Australia's future. We're cracking down on sham contracting, and we increased the penalties for employers who dodge their obligations to their employees. Unlike the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation, who oppose those changes, the Albanese Labor government has always backed our trucking industry and the workers who are delivering essential goods across Australia.

Under the current legislation, the Fair Work Commission must consult for a minimum of six months when setting contract chain orders, which ensure that truckies get safe and secure rates of pay. This government recognises that with the ongoing war in the Middle East resulting in volatile fuel prices, the commission needs the power to respond more quickly to contract chain order applications to ensure that trucking companies and owner-operators are not left to absorb these costs on their own.

In good news for the industry, this Labor government is taking swift and decisive action to do exactly this. Earlier this week, we announced that we will be introducing an amendment to the Fair Work Act to establish an urgent pathway for truckies to argue for their fair share at the Fair Work Commission. This is so truckies and transport operators aren't left to worry about managing rising costs on their own. It's critical that the costs of rising fuel prices are shared fairly throughout the supply chain so our truckies and transport businesses can remain viable.

Next week, when this legislation comes on for debate, we'll get to see how much the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation are actually willing to help Australians who are facing fuel price rises. They've had a lot to say about it. The question is whether they will act. (Time expired)

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

Senator Sterle, first supplementary?

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Magnificent, Minister! I can't wait to watch them all line up to vote for this magnificent piece of legislation. Helping Australian workers earn more and keep more of what they earn is a key priority of the Albanese government. How is the government supporting workers to deal with cost-of-living pressures they are facing right now?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese government recognises that the conflict in the Middle East is undoubtedly putting pressure on fuel prices, on inflation and on family budgets. Low-paid workers are more exposed to financial shocks and experience greater financial hardship, and we support lifting their wages as one of the ways to help them.

Today, the Albanese government will lodge a submission to the Annual Wage Review, recommending that the Fair Work Commission award an economically sustainable real wage increase to Australia's 2.7 million minimum wage and award-reliant workers, This, along with the tax cuts we provided last year and will again provide this year, is all about helping Australian workers earn more and keep more of what earn. We know that previous increases to the minimum wage were opposed by the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation—there's a bit of a theme here, that ragtag coalition. The chance for them is to say that Australian workers deserve an economically sustainable real wage increase.

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

Senator Sterle, second supplementary?

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Workers in low-paid roles work few hours and have fewer financial buffers to fall back on. These workers are more susceptible to cost-of-living challenges, including the rising price of fuel and global uncertainty we currently face. Why is it important that the government support these workers to earn more and keep more of what they earn?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We understand that workers are doing it tough right now, and that's why we think that they should get a sustainable, real wage increase as well. But I'll tell you who isn't doing it tough, and that's Senator Pauline Hanson. She is jetting around the country in her billionaire friend's plane. Starting in Queensland, where she tells workers she's on their side, she heads down to South Australia, where she tells seniors she is fighting for them, and then she gets on the plane over to Canberra, where she votes against higher wages for workers and against cheaper medicines for seniors. Now she says she wants to govern with the Liberal Party. Yesterday, Senator Hanson confirmed Australia's worst kept secret. This former Liberal Party member, who votes with the Liberals more than 80 per cent of the time, confirmed that she would be 'very happy' to use her numbers to help elect a coalition government at the next election. The truth is that the Liberals can't form government without One Nation. One Nation can't form government without the Liberals. They are a ragtag coalition who will hurt Australian workers.