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

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Watt. The Albanese Labor government is delivering real change for Australian workers by helping them earn more and keep more of what they earn. From today, new minimum workplace standards for workers in the gig economy come into effect as a result of this government's workplace reforms. Can the minister outline how many of these changes will benefit gig workers right across the country?

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

Thanks, Senator Sheldon. I know you've spent a lot of your life campaigning for the exact changes that have come into force today. Today is a great day for the tens of thousands of people in Australia who work in the gig economy. From today, gig economy workers, such as those who do food and drink delivery, are finally going to get paid a guaranteed fair wage of $32 an hour as a minimum. What that means is that your food will taste better, knowing that the people who are delivering it are getting a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. This is a direct result of Labor's introduction of world-leading laws which we passed to close the loopholes that meant these workers were being underpaid.

Of course, we will never forget that these laws were opposed by the Liberals, the Nationals and the One Nation party, with Senator O'Sullivan at the time calling it the single worst piece of industrial relations policy for three decades. That's what the Liberals and their friends in One Nation think about workers getting a fair go.

For too long, food delivery workers fell through the cracks without fair pay, sick leave or basic protections. Labor have now changed the law because every worker deserves a fair go. We legislated a model for minimum standards for these workers because it was clear their model of employment was not a traditional employee relationship, nor were they true independent contractors. As a result, they were falling through our country's workplace relations safety net. That's now changed due to the laws that Labor have passed.

Importantly, we left it to the independent Fair Work Commission to decide when and how these minimum standards should apply in response to applications from parties. This approach gave the commission the flexibility to respond to the new ways of work we see emerging in our economy—by ensuring there are minimum protections in place—without trying to force workers into a standard employment relationship.

Last week, the Fair Work Commission agreed that workers for the likes of Uber Eats and DoorDash should earn a safety net wage of up to $32 per hour. It also agreed that protection for these workers should be strengthened. That's a world first, and it's happened under Labor.

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

Senator Sheldon, first supplementary?

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

The Fair Work Commission's minimum standards decision was enabled by the Albanese government's closing loopholes laws and is a milestone in delivering stronger protections and a fairer safety net for gig economy workers. Minister, how else is the government providing stronger protections for workers, and what are the biggest threats to this safety net?

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

Thanks, Senator Sheldon. Well, on this side of the chamber, we believe that every Australian worker deserves fair wages and conditions as well as protection from unfair treatment. We've backed that up with real action, including getting more people into work, providing or advocating for wage rises, closing the gender pay gap, enshrining penalty rates in law and ensuring workers who do the same job get the same pay. But with One Nation now leading the Liberal Party on policy ideas, Australian workers' wages and conditions are under threat.

We know that One Nation have consistently opposed wage rises for workers. They want to get rid of penalty rates altogether. And, of course, their leader, Pauline Hanson, thinks Australian workers are lazy. If you think it's all sounding a bit familiar, that's because it is. These are all antiworker positions that have been put time and time again by One Nation's allies in the Liberal Party.

The Albanese Labor government is delivering the real change that Australian workers need. The only change the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation want for workers is to make life harder.

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

Senator Sheldon, second supplementary?

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

This decision is a big step in delivering Australia's world-leading gig worker protections and means food delivery workers don't have to trade off flexibility for fairer protections. Minister, how else is the Albanese Labor government helping Australian workers to be financially secure not only throughout their working life but beyond it as well?

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

Labor is proudly pro-worker and proudly project-superannuation. How about that one, Senator Bragg? But if the Liberals and One Nation were to get their way on wages and super, it would absolutely decimate the economic security and retirement incomes of millions of Australian workers. And that's because the Liberals and One Nation share a divisive antiworker and antisuperannuation ideology; Australian workers would be much worse off under the Liberals and One Nation.

In a recent interview on Sky News, as it then was, Senator Bragg was asked: 'On industrial relations, obviously we had the Work Choices debacle. Are you looking to go back in that direction?' And Senator Bragg's response was, 'It's time for some risk.' Well, we know that the only people at risk under the Liberals and One Nation are Australian workers. What those workers can be assured of is that the Albanese Labor government will always have their interests at heart because Labor is making sure that Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn, while the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation want to take it away.

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

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