Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to proudly support the member for Herbert's motion concerning penalty rates. I also note the impact of the Liberal-National government's continued attacks on the penalty rates and the conditions of workers in regional and rural Australia, as evidenced in the previous speech by the member for Hughes.

The recent Fair Work Commission's decision to cut penalty rates will hurt retail and hospitality workers and their families in regional areas. Figures reveal that my electorate of Richmond will be hit hard by the decision and hit hard by the Turnbull government's refusal to act and stop the Fair Work Commission's cut to penalty rates. In fact, in the past few days, the Prime Minister has shamefully stated that he supports the Fair Work Commission's cuts to penalty rates. He therefore supports cutting the wages of hardworking Australians.

In my electorate, more than 13,000 people—or one in five employees—work in the retail, food and accommodation industries, and they will be affected by these cuts. These workers stand to lose up to $77 per week. Retail is the second-biggest industry in my electorate, employing more than 7,000 workers. Food and hospitality is the third-largest industry, employing more than 6,000 workers. Make no mistake: these cuts will be devastating for my region and devastating for local families.

These cuts to penalty rates are also bad for our local economy, as these workers will now have less money to spend in our local businesses—our local shops and restaurants. These shops rely on our local economy and local workers. The workers are also the customers, so small businesses will be impacted as well. The fact is that the Prime Minister and his Liberal and National Party members have campaigned for a very long period of time to cut penalty rates, and that campaign continues from speakers across the chamber.

I would like to note and commend those businesses both in my electorate and throughout the country who have stated they will not be cutting their penalty rates following the decision. We should make mention of them and commend them.

Labor are determined to stop this damage being inflicted on our local workers and our economy. Indeed, I commend the opposition leader for putting forward his private member's bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take Home Pay) Bill 2017, in which we aim to stop these cuts to penalty rates. Labor's bill would stop the devastating effect of penalty rate cuts from taking effect. We know those Liberal and National MPs will shamefully continue to block the introduction of laws to protect penalty rates—that is what they do. They do it because they are seriously out of touch. They will vote against protecting workers from a $77 a week pay cut, but they will vote for a $50 billion tax cut for big business and multinationals. That is truly shameful. Labor has always had a strong commitment to protecting the rights and conditions of workers—specifically, their right to adequate and fair remuneration. Because, the fact is, it is penalty rates that pay the bills. It is penalty rates that put food on the table, and that is what those on the other side do not understand: it is a vital part of a worker's take-home pay.

Penalty rates are particularly important as they ensure that people are appropriately compensated for working long hours that are inconvenient and often unsociable, and for having to spend time away from their families. Families in regional Australia rely on penalty rates. These cuts will disproportionately impact on them, because wages are lower in regional areas, so it is a double hit to them. Our community is also deeply concerned about the impact on our regional economies. I note the McKell Institute estimates that disposable income in regional areas will fall by between $174 million and $748 million if penalty rates are cut in hospitality and retail awards. That is a massive hit to local economies. Cutting penalty rates in regional and rural areas has a much broader reach than those specifically listed in the original decision. Who is going to be next? Will it be our hardworking nurses, our healthcare workers, our police, our firefighters, our ambulance officers, our tourism employees, our cleaners? Who is next? They could be severely impacted if this is extended to those industries as well.

As a former police officer, and as someone who worked shift work for many years, I understand and empathise with the challenges and difficulties faced by people who work irregular hours and I understand why penalty rates are so vitally important. But since the election of this government, we have seen an enormous increase in the level of campaigning to reduce penalty rates. The government are out there every day advocating strongly for it, and, in the country, we have the National Party strongly advocating for it. As I have said many times, National Party choices hurt. Well, this one will really hurt the country if you are going to vote against these workers and you are going to vote to cut penalty rates. But people will remember it, and we will be campaigning on it every day up until the next election, because Labor will stand by regional and rural Australia. We will stand by the workers who rely on penalty rates and will fight every day in this place and throughout the country to protect workers, wages and conditions.

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