Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. He, like me and all members on this side of the House, will be glad that last night the Senate passed the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, another big win for the Minister for Employment, Senator Michaelia Cash, who is doing an amazing job on behalf of workers and employers around Australia.

It's a bill that will give the Fair Work Ombudsman new powers over franchising and ensure that workers like those at 7-Eleven, for example, are not able to be exploited again in the future by unscrupulous employers. It's another brick in the wall that this government has been creating to protect the rights of workers, protect honest union leaders and ensure that the cosy, corrupting arrangements between bosses and union leaders will be a thing of the past. And, bizarrely, the Labor Party voted against the second reading of the bill in the Senate last night—yet again, opposing looking after workers and protecting honest union leaders. They've done it on the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the Registered Organisations Commission, the corrupting benefits bill and, now, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017. There is one vulnerable worker who must be secretly pleased with the protections afforded him by our reforms. He's been out treading the boards again. The member for Grayndler has written a manifesto today, 'Voters hungry for alternatives'.

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