Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Figures released by the ABS today show that wages and salaries dropped by 0.5 per cent in December while company profits rose by more than 20 per cent. And what was the Turnbull Liberal government's response? Why, to give a $50 billion handout to big business while at the same time cutting wages, of course.

The Fair Work Commission's unfair decision on penalty rates will see more than 700,000 workers have their pay cut and all at the behest of the Liberal Party. Sixty Liberal and National members called for it. This will be a hit on the Australian economy. As the Governor of the Reserve Bank acknowledged last week, people with less income in their pockets will spend less in our economy. But the decision has a significant impact for Western Australia also, because the Turnbull government's refusal to stand up for Australian workers has given the Barnett Liberal government the green light to attack Western Australian workers. Just one day after the Fair Work Commission handed down its decision, Premier Barnett came out and told us that Western Australians working under the state award system should suffer the same fate. He made the promise that all Liberals do when they are too scared to be honest: a review of state awards. He then went on to say that he would like to see Sunday penalty rates reduced. This is the Liberal agenda writ large—throw working people under the bus while helping out their mates in big business. Western Australians can send a message to Barnett and the Prime Minister in less than two weeks: vote Labor on 11 March, because only Labor will defend your wages.

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