Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

It was very good, wasn’t it? The former minister over there is very proud of that record. Women working on AWAs in casual jobs earn $94 per week less than women on collective agreements—another proud moment for the Howard Liberal government. Do you remember the examples of AWAs that we had? There were workers at Chili’s Restaurant in Wollongong who had to pay out of their own pockets if a customer left without paying their bill. Sixteen-year-old Amber Oswald, who worked for Pow Juice, was presented with an AWA that dropped her hourly pay rate from $9.52 to $8.57 and abolished her penalty rates altogether—sign up or lose your hours. Remember Spotlight’s Annette Harris? She was told that she was going to lose shift penalties and other benefits worth $90 a week in return for a pay rise of 2c an hour. Do you remember the six mums from the mushroom farm who were sacked after they refused to sign up to AWAs with a 25 per cent pay cut?

When we hear this concern for the working women of Australia, I do not believe it, and I will tell you what: the working women of Australia do not believe it, because they remember your record in government.

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