Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

John Setka, the Victorian secretary of the construction union; Michael O'Connor, the national secretary of the CFMEU; Sally McManus, the secretary of the ACTU; and RBA governor Philip Lowe—what do they all have in common? They have all said that workers must demand a greater share of the pie. They have all said that workers must demand a greater share of the economy's profits through wage gains. So why are this government and the members opposite proceeding to cut penalty rates? Why are this government and this government minister refusing to back Labor in our policy to protect take-home pay? The governor said, 'The crisis really is in real wage growth,' so why are this government and these MPs refusing to back Labor's plan to stop the cuts in penalty rates? In 11 days, 700,000 workers will have their penalty rates cut, yet this government is doing nothing to support these workers. Join the RBA governor, join the leaders of the union movement and join Labor to protect the take-home pay of all these low-paid workers. When will this government stand up for the low-paid and stop the real crisis going on, which is the fact that we have wages growth going downwards?

See this speech in context