Rod Sawford (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will come straight to the point. I am opposed to the Independent Contractors Bill 2006 and the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Independent Contractors) Bill 2006. Like Work Choices, this legislation serves to undermine the living conditions and standards of Australian workers. The bills attack the rights, entitlements, conditions and protections that ought to be afforded to Australians in the workplace. The government is seeking to create a set of circumstances where workers can be forced onto sham contracts and have to pay for their own leave, including sick leave, superannuation and insurance. For contractors the legislation diminishes or eliminates protections by overriding state legislation.

No-one with any genuine concern for the interests of employees or contractors supports this legislation. In fact, the only real cheer squad I could identify is a rather shadowy organisation called the Independent Contractors of Australia.

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