Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very proud to say that the Australian Labor Party has always been the party of the Australian worker. Equality, dignity and respect are articles of faith in our movement. So I am very proud to report to the House today on a campaign being led by the National Union of Workers against insecure work—the tremendous growth of which is putting these important values at risk. The campaign is called Jobs You Can Count On.

There are more than 2.2 million Australian workers—one in five—who are casually employed. More than a million workers in Australia are independent contractors, often dependent on one client. Up to 300,000 workers are employed through labour hire companies with little or no job security. Far from choosing these conditions—as is often suggested by those on the other side of the House—insecure workers are more likely to be the vulnerable people in our labour force. They are women, young people and those without significant skills. Far from benefitting from the great growth in prosperity in Australia, these Australians are living precarious lives—lives of real risk.

Insecure work means that families cannot plan for their future. They cannot borrow to invest in their own skills and capabilities. They cannot get loans for houses or for cars. Many are too afraid, when things come up at work, to speak out for fear of losing their jobs.

In this House we must be relentless in our push for workers to have jobs that they can count on in this country. I am proud to stand tall with the National Union of workers and their Jobs You Can Count On campaign.

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